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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25844839">Theo in the Whirlwood Episode 3: The Toy Knight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewd/pseuds/Mewd'>Mewd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Theo in the Whirlwood [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Comedy, Daddy Issues, Drama, Dreams and Nightmares, Fae &amp; Fairies, Fantasy, Fauns &amp; Satyrs, Forests, Gen, Humor, Knights - Freeform, Monsters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:02:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25844839</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewd/pseuds/Mewd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A disease is spreading in the city and the healers can’t keep pace. Fairies, caught breaking into quarantine to use magic on humans, have been identified as the cause. Theodore is summoned to investigate, but things get complicated when he hears the other side of the story. </p><p>The fairies are sick too. They need to enchant humans to survive, and claim their spells will cure the humans too. Oboe pushes Theodore to help the fairies, but he’s on orders put a stop to these alleged fairy attacks. Theodore must make a decision about who to trust before this becomes a pandemic, all while haunted by magic dreams of his dead father.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Theo in the Whirlwood [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665631</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore emerged from a fog, rain sluicing down the rooftops and trailing down the bend of the street. The wet and the cold sent a shiver through his skin. He hurried up the steps towards the University, its windows bright beacons in the gloom. Warmth washed over as he pushed open the door and stepped into the glow inside.</p><p>"There you are!" Adjunct Kirkwin said as he took his sopping coat. Theodore was surprised to find himself wearing a teacher's robe underneath, tailored perfect to fit him. "The students are waiting! I was terrified I'd have to stand in for you!"</p><p>Theodore checked his pocket watch, saw numbers, and was mortified. "Forgive me," he said. "The storm kept me."</p><p>"It doesn't matter, you're here now!" Kirkwin said, pulling him forward. "Go!"</p><p>Theodore's footsteps echoed off the golden halls of the University. Monuments to the founding Scholars towered over him, each rendered in a pose of inspiration or study. He passed into the library, where endless shelves stretched into the horizon. It was alive with students putting that wisdom to work.</p><p>Theodore was awestruck. It was all he could do to keep moving. When did the University become so large? A suspicion that something was wrong crept over him, but then he remembered renovations were completed last week. Satisfied, he pushed the matter out of his thoughts.</p><p>The auditorium was packed with young minds eager to learn. Their eyes lit up when they saw Theodore. They whispered about how excited they were to take and how dignified Theodore looked. The rain pattered against the window glass but could not get inside. Theodore took his place at the lectern.</p><p>"I apologize for my tardiness," Theodore said. "I promise to set a better example for you all in the future."</p><p>He uncovered the chalkboard to reveal a diagdram of a human, a faun, and a bogeyman. Each body was charted with flowing lines.</p><p>"If you completed the assigned reading, you should now be familiar with the difference between raw wild magic, its fossilized form, and the sterilized man-made crystals that we use here on campus. Today we will be discussing how these types of thaumaturgical energy interact with the biology of various forms of life. Would any of you like to start us off by explaining why we need to purify before use?"</p><p>Every student in the auditorium raised a hand. Drowning in choices, Theodore selected a young woman in the third aisle to speak. She stood up.</p><p>"According to Dr. Thomas Redfetter's Ruminations of Sorcery and Health, revised volume two, pages three-hundred twenty-one through three-hundred twenty-two, given the human body cannot naturally separate thaumaturgy from ether, ether will erode the circulatory system and create crippling inflammation if exposed in greater volume than the liver can remove in time. Calcification of magic separates ether from thaumaturgy, and allows us to harness its energy safely."</p><p>"Precisely!" Theodore said, choosing not to mention that she used an improper citation form. "The primary thing that distinguishes fairies and ghasts from humans and ferals is that their bodies operate on an ether based circulatory system. While ether is toxic to us, it is necessary for the magical creature's survival. A fairy, for example, that lives outside a place of ambient magic such as the Whirlwood will suffer stunted growth."</p><p>"Wow!" One of the students leapt to his feet. "That's incredible! I'm learning so much in this class!!"</p><p>Theodore frowned. "I appreciate your passion, but we have a lot of material to cover, so please calm down."</p><p>"I can't!" Another student was hyperventilating. "You're blowing my mind over here! I'm freaking out!"</p><p>The rain grew louder. Wind rattled the window panes, but Theodore knew he mustn't look at it. He focused his attention on his students.</p><p>"Learning is a journey, not a race," he said. "Soothe yourself and we may continue."</p><p>They did not calm down. The muttering spread through the class. The students grew loud, their voices rising and breathless. They spoke over one another, saying nothing, filling the room with noise.</p><p>"Stop that!" Theodore said. "I know this class is exciting, but this is getting out of hand!"</p><p>Thunder shook the classroom. Students screamed and then screamed louder. Theodore covered his ears but it was not enough. Lightning tore through the ceiling and let in a torrent of rain. The lamps went out and the students vanished. In their place, at the door of the classroom, was a man Theodore knew to be dead. Through the raging storm, Theodore saw the corpse of his father, Lance Grayweather, staring at him.</p><p>Theodore woke from his nightmare. He searched for his glasses in panic and tried to make sense of his situation. The first ember glow of dawn peeked through the window. He was alone, sitting in bed. His mind cleared. He was at home at the Ranger Deputy cottage, deep in the Whirlwood forest, right where he was supposed to be. A chill reached up his arm. He climbed out of bed and found the window hanging open. He must've left it unlatched again. The nightmare was a fairy dream, and nothing more.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Episode 3 Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe hadn't slept. She was too excited to wake up and go to work. Sitting in her tree, she waited for the sun to finish rising so she could go to the Ranger Deputy office without waking Theo up this time. If she wasn't careful she'd get on his nerves and then he would have to fire her, and then she'd be all alone again, and then she'd die of loneliness without ever having fulfilled a purpose with her sad and worthless life. That would suck. It was important to be careful.</p>
<p>She squeezed the tree branch under her and thought about all the other ways she could mess up. Theo could have her banished for spilling coffee on paperwork, or thrown in the dungeon for talking too much. She took a deep breath and reminded herself Theo wasn't like that. It was scary when she told him he was wrong about the Tall Man but afterwards he thanked her for doing it. Theo was good.</p>
<p>She dropped onto the grass. The sun was taking forever to come up. Antsy, she tried to think of the sorts of things she did before Theo came to the Whirlwood. She was already stewing in anxiety, so that was out. It was too cold to swim. The only other thing she was good at was wandering around aimlessly. There was plenty of time to forage for food, though she wasn't really hungry. Maybe she could bring something for Theo to eat instead. Humans liked meat best, right? It was hard to catch animals in the Whirlwood who couldn't talk, though.</p>
<p>Something else she spent a lot of time doing was trying to make friends, but that never went well. Other creatures always got cold and distant the moment they realized what she was. That's why it was nice being around Theo. Other creatures had to talk to her then. She wished they would just do that all the time.</p>
<p>At least she had Thistle. Thistle was a good best friend, but he hadn't been home the past few days. Maybe he needed space. He got grumpy when she visited too much.</p>
<p>Oboe looked up, and realized the sun was up. She had spent so much time wondering what to do that it was almost time for the office to open. Giddiness welled up inside her. If she took her time walking there, she would arrive just in time to start work.</p>
<p>Sprinting the whole way, she wondered what kind of adventures they would have today. Would they stop a militant Red Cap uprising? Help squirrels fill out pages of paperwork? Fight some trolls, just because? She burst through the front door of the cottage, too excited to find out.</p>
<p>"I'm here!" Oboe said, out of breath. "I'm ready to start working!!"</p>
<p>Theo stared at her. He was wearing his bed clothes, sitting with a book on his lap, in the middle of sipping some coffee. He set the mug down.</p>
<p>"Uh, good morning Oboe," he said. "What are you doing here?"</p>
<p>She blinked. "Huh? What do you mean? The sun is over the trees! That means the office is open and it's time to help all the Whirlwood creatures!"</p>
<p>He slipped a bookmark into the volume he was reading and gave her a sheepish smile. "You do know that it's our day off, don't you?"</p>
<p>Oboe stood there, dumbstruck. "What?"</p>
<p>"There's no work today. You can relax."</p>
<p>"What??" This was a catastrophe. "Then what am I supposed to do all day?"</p>
<p>"Whatever you like," Theo said.</p>
<p>All the anxiety Oboe felt that morning came rushing back. She could not imagine anything more boring and awful than spending the day by herself. "If I can do whatever I want, can't I just work here instead?"</p>
<p>Theo raised an eyebrow. "That's not how it works. Everyone needs time to rest, it's mandated by the state."</p>
<p>Oboe didn't want to rest. She wanted to help Theo do important things. This job made her feel better about herself than anything before in her life. "If I can't work, can I at least hang out here with you?"</p>
<p>Theo made a face, and Oboe's heart sank. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like time to catch up on my reading. I'm sure there are plenty of other creatures you can spend time with."</p>
<p>She stopped herself from saying something. There had to be a way for her to avoid another lonely day off. "Are you sure we can't just work anyway?"</p>
<p>"Unless there's an emergency, there's no reason for us to do anything but take it easy."</p>
<p>There was hope after all. "How do we know there's not an emergency?? Did you check the mailbox?"</p>
<p>"I haven't finished my coffee yet," he said. "Besides, it would have to be a big deal for a letter to be delivered on the day of rest."</p>
<p>"Emergencies are a big deal!" Oboe said. "We should check right now!"</p>
<p>With a reluctant sigh, Theo took another swig of his coffee and got up. "Fine, if it will satisfy you. But if there isn't anything, you need to leave so I can finish my book."</p>
<p>Theo checked to make sure all of his buttons were looped correctly, before padding out into the yard. Oboe scrambled to get to the mailbox first, but it was locked. There was a slot for courier birds to fit letters through and a cover to keep the rain out. She waited, watching Theo take his time to undo the lock. He reached in and pulled out a bright red envelope with the governor's office.</p>
<p>"Oh no," he said.</p>
<p>Oboe was bouncing on her hooves. It was a miracle.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Episode 3 Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo removed the wax seal like it was surgery, like he expected it might explode. Oboe sat on the other side of the desk, waiting for him to finish reading the letter. </p>
<p>"What's up?" Oboe said, unable to wait any longer.</p>
<p>"Governor Farbend wants me to speak to a Dr. Stillwell at the University as soon as possible."</p>
<p>"The university?" She was confused. "What's that got to do with your job here?"</p>
<p>Theo looked disturbed. "It says there's a strange disease spreading in the city." He scanned the letter again in more detail. "It's believed Red Caps may be involved. This sounds dire. I was hoping it could wait until tomorrow, but it can't." He pulled his grocery list off the bulletin board. "Not how I wanted to spend today, but at least I'll be able to run my errands while I'm out." He sighed. "I should get going. But before I go, there's something I want to discuss with you."</p>
<p>"Wait!" Oboe almost jumped. "I should go with you!"</p>
<p>"That's not necessary," Theo said. " That wouldn't be fair to you. It's your day off, remember?"</p>
<p>Oboe screamed inside her head. Why did this have to be so hard?</p>
<p>"Anyway," Theo said before she had a chance to argue. "I wanted to remind you that you still haven't picked up your back pay."</p>
<p>"My what?"</p>
<p>Opening a cabinet, Theo fished out a hefty drawstring purse and handed it to her. "Five thousand thalers. All the wages you earned for the last month and a half."</p>
<p>Oboe sniffed at it with suspicion. "What am I supposed to do with this?"</p>
<p>"It's money," Theo said, exasperated. "You buy things with it."</p>
<p>She frowned at the heavy coin-filled bag, feeling helpless.</p>
<p>"Please take it," he said. "You can't just keep letting this pile up. I made a point to budget for your salary. You're a servant of the crown and entitled to fair compensation."</p>
<p>Oboe tried to hand it back, but Theo was ready. He backed off, arms folded. She set the pouch on his head.</p>
<p>"You can keep it," she said. "I've got nowhere to spend it. I just want to help you make the Whirlwood better."</p>
<p>Grumbling, Theo rolled the bag back into his hand. "There's plenty of things for you to buy in the capital."</p>
<p> "But you're leaving without me!"</p>
<p>"You don't need me to go to the city," Theo said, holding out the purse. "You have a visa. You know how to use the trolleys now. There's a lot to see and do in the capital! Not all creatures make this kind of money. You should enjoy it."</p>
<p>Oboe scowled at the bag of money. She thought about going to the city alone and it just felt sad.  "I'll make you a deal," she said. "I'll keep the money if you take me with you."</p>
<p>"You're being ridiculous," he said.</p>
<p>"Why won't you take me with you??" Oboe said, feeling hurt.</p>
<p>Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just... we're co-workers, right? I'm your boss. It's not proper for us to fraternize during our time off."</p>
<p>"Why not?"</p>
<p>"Administrative guidelines say it's a bad idea," Theo said.</p>
<p>"But WHY is it a bad idea?" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"I don't know!" Theo said. "It just makes things more complicated."</p>
<p>"I'm okay with that." He was the one making things complicated. "Please let me come with you! Laien is big and scary and I feel a lot better with you there. I like helping you. I don't want to stop just because it's the wrong day of the week."</p>
<p>Theo's arms sagged and his eyes softened. "Alright," he said. "Fine. You can come. Just, please take your pay. I don't want the Governor to think I'm embezzling."</p>
<p>Oboe snatched the bag and looped it over her shoulder. Dancing out the front door, she could not wait to get started.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Episode 3 Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I wanna see what's this way!" Oboe said, hurrying through the streets. The city was livelier on the day of rest, with humans of all shapes and sizes. There were the fancy breeds dressed in their flouncy gowns and suits, and the scrappy mutts who were plain and threadbare. The air was a mix of tastes both bitter and savory, from the smog of the factories washed by the sea breeze, the scent of spiced meat roasting over wood fires and the faint stink wafting from the sewers. It was different every time she came.</p>
<p>"You act like you've never seen the city before," Theo said as he ambled after her.</p>
<p>"I never get to enjoy it!" She said. "We're always running around and doing things. Oh! Wow!" She pointed at a big pointy building in the distance. It stood out like a palace, with a great dome and well-tended gardens. "What's that??"</p>
<p>"That?" He was surprised. "It's just the First Cathedral of Laien."</p>
<p>Oboe admired all its colored windows. "It's pretty." It wasn't as big as where grandmother lived, but it was beautiful in its own way. "Can we go inside?"</p>
<p>He hummed. "Well, it's the day of rest, so I think they'll only let us in to worship."</p>
<p>"Oh." Her heart sank. "I don't think I'm allowed to anymore."</p>
<p>Theo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>Realizing what she'd said, Oboe looked for anything she could use to change the subject. "Hey! Look at all this stuff!" She ran over to a little open-air storefront on the end of the street, with pots and pans piled up on wagons. She looked back to see Theo join her. "Wow! Pans!" She said. </p>
<p>The shopkeeper welcomed them, leering while Theo scrutinized the skillets.</p>
<p>"No," he said as he put one back. "Uneven metal work. It'll just warp after real use."</p>
<p>Oboe picked up a pair of tea kettles, weighing one in each hand. One was etched with a gold illustration of a kitten and the other had a marbled swirl of blues.</p>
<p>Theo came over. He was done browsing. "Can't decide what you want?"</p>
<p>She shook her head. "I don't want either of them! I haven't got a kitchen to use them in!"</p>
<p>"You don't have to buy anything," he said.</p>
<p>"But I have all this money!" She said, frustrated. "You said I should do something with it."</p>
<p>"There's no rush!" He said. "Take your time to think of something you actually want."</p>
<p>"Like what?"</p>
<p>He blinked, unprepared for the question. "Well, you don't wear clothes, but there's all sorts of food. Like the restaurants, or the exotic goods the caravan trains bring in. At the very least, you could set up a bank account. That way, you're at least drawing interest from what you have."</p>
<p>"No!" The idea of having even more money was too stressful. It had been so many years since she even had the opportunity to buy anything that she had gotten comfortable doing without.</p>
<p>"Alright," he said. "How about this: You're living in a tree, aren't you? If you want, you could pay to have a proper home built, like mine."</p>
<p>Her mouth hung open. "Really?" She liked Theo's cottage, and it amazed her to think she could have one just like it. "That's a great idea! Can we do that now??"</p>
<p>A bell tolled in the distance. Theo checked his pocket watch and snapped it shut. "Actually, we should get moving. I'm expected at the university and we'll miss our trolley if we dawdle much longer."</p>
<p>"Do we have to?" She said.</p>
<p>He gave her a stern look. "The governor would not have sent that letter today if it weren't important. If you want to pay to have a house built, you're welcome to do it without me."</p>
<p>"No, wait for me!" Oboe dumped the kettles, rattling the table and perturbing the shop owner. "Sorry!"</p>
<p>They excused themselves from the store and hurried toward the station several blocks away. Oboe tried to stay close as he made a beeline through the streets.</p>
<p>"Halt!" A city knight in a bright checkered tabard held out an arm and blocked Oboe's path. "Stop right there. You aren't allowed here, fairy!"</p>
<p>Oboe stumbled. "Huh? What'd I do wrong now?"</p>
<p>Theo doubled back and waved for the man's attention. "Pardon me, there has to be a mistake. She's fully certified. Show him your visa, Oboe."</p>
<p>She fished it out of her pouch. It took a little bit of effort to get all the wrinkles and crinkles out so it could be read. "Yeah, here it is!"</p>
<p>The knight didn't bother looking at it. "Doesn't matter. There's a fey ban in this district of the city."</p>
<p>"That's absurd," Theo said. "That document proves she's a citizen and cleared for travel in the capital."</p>
<p>The knight grimaced. "I don't make the rules, just enforce them. If the silk shirts say no fairies, that's how it is. No exceptions."</p>
<p>"...I see." Theo looked skeptical. "First I've heard of this. How far does this ban extend?"</p>
<p>"Through to Redwand avenue."</p>
<p>Theo seemed startled. "That far?" It took him a minute to work out another way to go. He gestured for Oboe to follow and led her across four blocks, cutting through alleyways and side streets.</p>
<p>"Come on!" Theo said.</p>
<p>She tried to keep up, but he kept changing directions. The clocktower chimed again and Theo moved even faster. They pushed their way through a big crowd pouring out of the station, just in time to watch their trolley leave without them.</p>
<p>"Damn it," he said, trying to catch his breath.</p>
<p>"I guess we'll have to wait for the next one," Oboe said.</p>
<p>"No, we won't," Theo said, studying the schedule posted to the wall. "This is the day of rest. There's not going to be another trolley running through here for three hours."</p>
<p>"...Oh." She felt a knot in her stomach. All she wanted was to spend the day helping Theo. Instead she'd ruined everything.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Episode 3 Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe sat on a station bench and waited while Theo stared at a map of the trolley routes. He was trying to puzzle out if any of the other stations would get them to the university on time.</p><p>"It's no use," he said. "It'll be faster to walk."</p><p>Oboe slumped over in her seat. "I'm sorry. It's my fault you're going to be late."</p><p>"It's fine," he said, his tone gruff. "I let us get distracted. I should've been more mindful."</p><p>"It's not okay," she said. "You're mad. You should yell at me so you feel better."</p><p>Theo held his eyes shut, long enough to make his scowl go away. "That won't solve anything. Let's just get going."</p><p>"But you're upset!" Oboe said.</p><p>"Drop it," Theo said with a glare. "It's not a problem. We have a mission to worry about, so let's focus on that instead. Alright?"</p><p>She backed off. "O-okay." That said, they left.</p><p> Oboe was grateful Theo didn't blame her, but it worried her how cold he was being. He told her it was not a problem, but it still felt like one. There had to be a way to make it up to him, but she wasn't sure how.</p><p>A train of merchant wagons came rumbling through the streets. Hundreds of humans and a few scattered creatures helped to drive its goods to market, blocking the way through. Oboe and Theo waited, sharing a stiff silence.</p><p>"Theo," Oboe said, not even really sure of what she wanted to say but wanting to break the quiet. "Do you miss living here? ...In the capital?"</p><p>He shook off whatever thought he was having. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"It's so exciting here!" She said. "There's something always happening. It makes the valley seem so boring."</p><p>"I wish it were boring," Theo said. "Every day I have to deal with strange new problems. I never know what to expect. Things are better here because everything has a pattern to it. My old job required me to do the same thing every day. I liked that it let me focus on doing everything perfectly."</p><p>Oboe leaned against a lamp post. Before Theo came to the Whirlwood, almost every day was the same for her. Wake up, look for food, maybe go for a swim, and bother Thistle if he wasn't mad at her. If Thistle didn't want to deal with her, she was just lonely.</p><p>"Do you miss your friends in the city?" Oboe asked.</p><p>He furrowed his brow, thinking. "I'm not sure I had any."</p><p>Oboe almost fell over. "What?!"</p><p>He counted off his fingers, as if running through all the people he knew in his head. "I don't think my co-workers qualify. Never really spoke to them unless I had to. I was cordial with my landlord, but I believe he preferred talking to his cats. I can't think of anyone else."</p><p>"There are people everywhere here!" Oboe said, gesturing wildly at the throng of people in front of them. "You could be friends with every single one of them! Why aren't you??"</p><p>He laughed, which startled Oboe. He was always so serious. "I don't know," he said. "It's not like that here. Everyone has their own routine, and they don't always crossover. I worked, and then I went home and studied books. I spent all my time trying to save up to go to university. I guess I didn't think about it."</p><p>"But you didn't get to go to university," Oboe said. "That's sad."</p><p>Theo didn't say anything. He watched the wagons pass. Oboe panicked. She'd made things worse again. She tried to think of something else to talk about, but before she thought of anything Theo found his voice.</p><p>"I got a letter," he said, staring off. "The university approved my application. I'm supposed to go in for an entrance exam. But I can't."</p><p>Oboe squeezed her fingers. "Why not?"</p><p>"I got roped into being a knight instead." His eyes were sad, not angry. "It's the last thing in the world I wanted."</p><p>The moment grew heavy. "Then maybe you should quit."</p><p>"I can't just abandon the Whirlwood creatures," he said. "They need help."</p><p>"Why can't you do both?" Oboe said, growing anxious.</p><p>"I thought about that a lot," Theo said. "But the city is too far and I'm too busy. It won't work. I have to accept that."</p><p>The traffic cleared. The way forward was open but neither of them moved. They were stuck.</p><p>"Are you okay?" She said.</p><p>He shook his head, and gathered himself. "I'm fine. Just thinking." They crossed the street together. "Oboe, I apologize for snapping at you earlier. It wasn't professional. I'm sure the university staff will understand the delay. It's my day off, after all. It's just important to me that I take my work seriously."</p><p>"You don't have to be sorry," Oboe said. "I'm the one that messed up."</p><p>They kept moving. The spires of the university rose in the distance. Theo seemed in better spirits now. Were things fixed? It looked that way, but didn't feel that way. Oboe wondered what Theo was feeling inside. Why didn't he like talking about it? She told herself to leave it alone. She didn't want to ruin anything else.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Episode 3 Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking into the University was harder for Theodore this time. The sight of the library tower, with its three stories of books amassed from the world over, filled him with a bitter jealousy. He put it from his mind. Life had stuck him with other responsibilities.</p>
<p>The governor's letter instructed him to present himself to the medical research wing. Crossing the school's ramparts, and a woman was shouting at them the moment they set foot in the lobby.</p>
<p>"Get out!" She said. Her pastel green robes marked her as a graduate of healing magic studies. "No fairies allowed in the medical ward! You need to leave!"</p>
<p>Oboe didn't say anything. She'd been quiet since they left the market district.  Her eyebrows arched and she looked at Theodore to tell her what to do.</p>
<p>"My name is Theodore Grayweather, the Ranger Deputy, and this is my assistant Oboe." He handed the woman his badge and the letter. "We're here by special request of the Governor."</p>
<p>She scrutinized both items thoroughly before returning them. "I see. Good." She pointed towards the stairs. "Dr. Stillwell will be expecting you. Proceed to the Research Quarantine on the third floor." She glanced at Oboe. "I think it would be best if you left the animal down here in the lobby. They'll have a fit if you come in with that thing."</p>
<p>This was the second time today this was a problem. "Why aren't fairies allowed inside?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"Stillwell's orders. No outside magic is to be let in until the epidemic is over."</p>
<p>"I'll be good," Oboe said. She sat stiff in one of the lobby chairs to demonstrate. "I'll wait here."</p>
<p>"Hopefully this will be quick," Theodore said.</p>
<p>Two flights of stairs later, the graduate led Theodore into Research Quarantine. He'd read and heard the word epidemic, but the reality had not clicked until he stepped into the ward. An entire laboratory, the space of a warehouse, had been cleared to make room for a sea of white hospital beds arranged in a grid. Every last one was filled. The patients looked drained of color, miserable and languid. The healthiest of the subjects had machinery looming over them. A smoldering haze of shifting light poured out of lamps on the machines onto the patients.</p>
<p> Doctor Stillwell was lording over one of these machines, adjusting and tuning it. He had a wild shock of graying brown hair, and a jaw like a boulder. His eyes were sharp and he was dressed in pastel green robes.</p>
<p>"Ranger Deputy is here to see you, Doctor," the graduate said before marching off.</p>
<p>"Sorry for arriving so late," Theodore said. "I missed my trolley."</p>
<p>Stillwell's handshake was firm. "If this is indicative of your performance in general, we are both in trouble." He wheeled the machine around to face another bed. The patient in the original bed reached out to grab the doctor.</p>
<p>"Wait!" He said, hoarse. "Not yet! I need more! Please!"</p>
<p>He pulled the hand off his robes with care. "You need to trust us. We aren't going to let you die. Other people need this as well."</p>
<p>The patient gave a pitiful, desperate look while Dr. Stillwell ignited the lamp of the machine over the next bed.</p>
<p>"What is this illness?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>The doctor motioned for Theodore to follow him to the relative privacy of a workbench.</p>
<p>"Before you ask, no, it's not contagious." He sighed, looking more exhausted now that they were away from the patients. "Not in any typical sense, anyway. These people are suffering from a deficit of magic."</p>
<p>That didn't make any sense. "Magic is toxic to the human body."</p>
<p>Stillwell rolled his eyes. "Yes. Wild, raw magic is poisonous to human beings. You can drown in the sea, that doesn't mean you don't need fresh water to live. All life needs at least a trace amount of magic to exist. What's happening here is that these people have had the magic they need drained out of them."</p>
<p>"How is that possible?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"The first reported case was from a Duke Ambergrail. His symptoms developed a little over six months ago, shortly after a fairy broke into his home. The fairy in question was dealt with but the damage was done. The duke's condition has only worsened with time."</p>
<p>Theodore connected the dots. "That's why you won't let fairies into the medical ward. ...And why there's a ban on fairies in the city?"</p>
<p>Stillwell nodded. "Ambergrail banned fairy creatures from entering his district of the city and a few of the neighboring dukes followed his example. Not that it helped. The number of cases has only exploded since then."</p>
<p>Something bothered Theodore about this story. He remembered the hunt for the Tall Man, and how Flip had profited by feeding into mistrust towards magical creatures. "If fairies aren't allowed inside, how do you know that they're even the cause of this?"</p>
<p>"From what I understand, the city watch has already jailed a half-dozen fairies violating the ban," the doctor said. "I'm told the attacks appear to be organized. They're enchanting people while they are unaware."</p>
<p>This didn't make sense. "Fairies are made out of magic," Theodore said. "Why would they drain humans of it?"</p>
<p>Stillwell grimaced. "I'm not going to pretend I understand what these creatures are thinking.  If you want to know more about the attacks, you should speak to the duke. We need you to get to the bottom of why these attacks are happening before it gets any worse." He swept an arm out toward the vast room of patients. "We can't keep up with this. We can treat the magic deficiency by beaming ambient magic into the body, but we don't have enough machines to treat everyone."</p>
<p>"What if you brought people into the Whirlwood Valley?" Theodore said. "It's overflowing with ambient magic there."</p>
<p>"You're suggesting I take these sick people into a place crawling with Red Caps after they've been victimized? Ridiculous. It's too risky."</p>
<p>"I've lived safe there for well over a month," Theodore said. "The Red Caps are gone."</p>
<p>"These attacks suggest otherwise," Stillwell said. "Look. I'm the healer here. Leave treating the patients to me. You're a knight. What I need you to do is get to the bottom of this mess and put a stop to it."</p>
<p>Theodore cringed to be called a knight, but could not argue. There were more than a hundred sick faces here. His duty was clear.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Episode 3 Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe fidgeted in her seat in the lobby. Students passed in a hurry, clutching their books tighter as their eyes darted over her. They were so nervous having her here. As much as she liked the city, it ultimately wasn't that different. She wished she could've stayed with Theo so she wouldn't feel so out of place.</p>
<p>The students in this tower all wore the same color robes, and it made Oboe think they were all part of one human family. She knew that wasn't how it worked, but the thought made sense to her. No wonder Theo wanted to come to the university so bad. Having a place to belong was worth anything.</p>
<p>She heard Theo coming down the stairs and jumped to her feet.</p>
<p>"What's wrong?" She said. His brow was pinched like they weren't done. "How'd it go?"</p>
<p>"I found out why there's a ban," Theo said. "There have been fairy attacks in the capital in the past several weeks. They're making people sick. There's an entire floor filled with victims up there."</p>
<p>"They're enchanting the humans?" Humans had lots of rules about when it was okay to use magic on humans, but wicked creatures didn't care. "If it's a magic spell, can't the wizards here just undo it?"</p>
<p>Theo shook his head. "It's not an enchantment, exactly. Dr. Stillwell says fairies are draining people of magic."</p>
<p>"What?" She said. "That's weird. The valley is overflowing with magic! Why would they steal more from humans?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. There might be some Red Caps out for revenge, but they've been quiet for well over a month." He started toward the door. "Something about this doesn't add up. We need to find out more about these alleged attacks."</p>
<p>"How do we do that?" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"The Watch apparently captured a few of the fairies responsible. I think it'd be best to start there. We should also talk to the duke who ordered the ban and get his side of the story."</p>
<p>They left the big school with its sprawling campus, and made their way back into the dense and busy parts of the city. Oboe tried to follow Theo's lead but something was weird. His head swiveled on street corners, he kept doubling back, and every few turns he would pause for a long time.</p>
<p>"What's wrong?" She said.</p>
<p>"I need to get my bearings," he said. "I'm not familiar with this part of the city."</p>
<p> "I thought you knew everything about the city!" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"Well, I normally take the trolley, but that's not an option. I've never had to come this way before. ...I'm lost."</p>
<p>Oboe gasped and grabbed him. "That's wonderful!"</p>
<p>"What?" He leaned back. "Why?"</p>
<p>"That means you get to explore!!"</p>
<p>Theo did not seem to be bubbling with the excitement he ought to be. "This investigation is important. We can't just go wandering around."</p>
<p>"But we don't know how to get where we're going," Oboe said. "The best way to stop being lost is to explore until you know where everything's at. That's how I learned not to be scared of the Whirlwood!"</p>
<p>"I suppose there's some sense to that," Theo said. "Still, we shouldn't get distracted."</p>
<p>Oboe frowned. "Even though it's your day off? You should be allowed to have a little fun."</p>
<p>Theo considered this, relaxing enough to smile. "Okay," he said. "But only a little."</p>
<p>She ran ahead, excited. "Let's try this way!"</p>
<p>"Hold on! Wait for me!"</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Episode 3 Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore tried to keep up with Oboe as she darted ahead. Streets forked in odd directions through unfamiliar neighborhoods. Before he had a chance to agonize over which way to go, she picked a path for him.</p>
<p>The afternoon sun filtered through laundry strung up across apartments overhead, clothes lines looped around old statues and rusted fire escapes. The buildings and roads looked more worn and weathered than the well-funded districts of the city's center. Theodore worried that they were getting off track, but was also relieved to be moving.</p>
<p>"Come on, slowpoke!" Oboe said. "You got snails for legs?"</p>
<p>"No." It would be absurd for any part of his body to be a gastropod. "Are you sure we're heading in the right direction?"</p>
<p>"You said we want to go East, right? This feels like East to me."</p>
<p>A quick glance at the sun told him something else. "This road is pointing North."</p>
<p>"Well, it still feels like East," Oboe said. "Don't worry about all the little turns. They take you any which way, but they're part of the big turns that take you the right way. I'll show you!"</p>
<p>She led him up a winding hill, lined with slanted roofs and faded archways, and then down stairs into a cobblestone tunnel that bent at right angles. After a few dead ends, but before Theodore lost his patience, they found their way out. They had stumbled onto a secluded park. It was enclosed, overgrown with ivy, and decorated with unkempt shrubs, statues, and stone benches. A handful of people were lounging, some reading. An artist worked to set up an easel to paint nearby.</p>
<p>"Why didn't you tell me this was here??" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"I can't tell you about something I didn't know about," he said. Although he could've guessed there might be something like it. City ordinance required a minimum of one place of respite for every square mile. He had to admit it was lovely.</p>
<p>"Who's this guy?" Oboe said, pointing at a statue of a regal man in ornate armor.</p>
<p>Theodore adjusted his glasses. "The inscription is faded, but there's three to one odds it's meant to be the hero Laien." Tributes to the man were everywhere in the capital. "He ended the war with the Devil King, brokered the peace treaties with the fairies and ghasts, and founded this country. All of which make him a popular subject of public art."</p>
<p>"I like his beard," Oboe said.</p>
<p>"There's no historic consensus that he actually ever had a beard," Theodore said. "The tribes only had oral histories before he united us, so the details are muddy."</p>
<p>Oboe frowned. "He should have a beard if it looks cool."</p>
<p>Theodore supposed that was one way to look at it. She moved on, leading him toward the next diversion.</p>
<p>"Hold on," he said. She turned back. He thought to steer them back on track, but realized after assessing the skyline that they were already heading East. "Never mind," he said. They left the park, and found themselves wandering through a shopping arcade. Obscure boutiques lined the way through out to the main roads. It would be easy to navigate from here. Somehow, Oboe had led them where they needed to go.</p>
<p>"Theo, look at all this!" She pressed her face up against the glass of a storefront. The window display was filled with marionettes, dolls and board games. Theodore shouldn't have been surprised that this caught her attention. He wanted to pull her away, tell them to keep moving, but there was something in her excitement that made it hard. He opened the door instead.</p>
<p>"You want to go inside?" He said. "There might be something you actually want to buy here."</p>
<p>"Can we?" She said, wide eyed. </p>
<p> The shelves were lined with carved figurines in bright paint, wooden swords, ornate doll houses, and every kind of wind up novelty. A plump clerk looked up from his book when they entered.</p>
<p>"Theo! Theo! It's a train!" Oboe pointed him at an expensive model set. "Just like the one that goes through the Whirlwood!" She removed the roof of one of the train cars with the care of handling a museum artifact. "And there's tiny wooden people inside!!"</p>
<p>Theodore felt the asking price was a bit high for an unpainted set, but hated to step on her enthusiasm. "Amazing," he said.</p>
<p>Oboe turned to the clerk. "You made all these things yourself??"</p>
<p>"Most of it is contract work from the wood workers guild," he said. "I do have imports from the Hook and Red Spire if are looking for hand carved, though."</p>
<p>Theodore busied himself by examining the workmanship of the chess boards, but doubted he'd get any use out of one.</p>
<p>"This is perfect!" Oboe said, bringing something to the counter. "I'm getting this, please! How much?"</p>
<p>"Fifty thalers," the clerk said.</p>
<p>Theodore tried to look at what she selected, only for her to push him back. "Don't look yet!" She said. "It's a surprise!"</p>
<p>"For who?" He said. "You're supposed to be finding something for yourself."</p>
<p>Oboe kept her hands clasped around the item until they were outside the shop, where she revealed her surprise. A little wooden figurine of a knight, with a grim angry face and a sword outstretched. "It looks just like you!" She said. "I want you to have it!"</p>
<p>Theodore said nothing. He stared at the ugly little toy, wondering what about it reminded Oboe of him. Maybe it was the pointed nose, or maybe it was because it was a soldier. A brute knight like the one that harassed them earlier. Like the ones that killed Silas. Like his father. Theodore felt his skin prickle as she tried to put the thing in his hands. He let it fall to the ground.</p>
<p>"I don't want it," he said. "You shouldn't have bought it."</p>
<p>"Why not?" She picked it back off the ground. "What's wrong with it?"</p>
<p>"This is what you see when you look at me? An angry little man with a sword?"</p>
<p>She cradled the overpriced garbage. "It's a knight. You're a knight too, aren't you?"</p>
<p>"I guess I am." Theodore felt a wave of resentment. All his life the world conspired to make sure that was all he would ever be. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Oboe said, ears drooping. "I thought it would make you smile. I didn't mean to make you mad."</p>
<p>"It's not important," he said, trying to be fine. He knew she didn't mean any harm, but the sight of the toy made it hard to stay calm. He needed to get away. "I think that's enough fun for one day. I'm going to go talk to the duke. He's in the banned district, so go do something else for a while."</p>
<p>"I thought we were going to do the jail first?" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"I changed my mind," Theodore said. "I'll meet you at the park afterwards, alright?" </p>
<p>Oboe tucked the toy into her pouch, looking sad. "Okay."</p>
<p> Theodore stormed off onto the main road. If he had to be a knight, he wanted to get the work over with. Weaving through the crowd, he beat a path toward the estate of the Duke.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Episode 3 Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door opened. On the other side was a man dressed like a butler but built like a bouncer. His broad shoulders blocked the width of the door frame. He offered a mute sneer in lieu of a greeting.</p>
<p>"Hello," Theodore said. "I'm Ranger Deputy Grayweather. I'm here to speak to Duke Ambergrail."</p>
<p>"Let the man in, Mort," a voice called from inside. "He's expected."</p>
<p>The servant stepped back, allowing Theodore to enter the foyer. It was a well-built manor, but it was very old and smaller than modern ones. Theodore guessed it was made after the Redsea Revolt, when the nobles were more practical and money was tighter. He wanted to call the carpentry beautiful, but every wall, floor and archway was scarred with runes carved deep into them. Glowing glyphs were everywhere, empowered to protect this place from fairies.</p>
<p>Theodore was ushered into a study. The room was cramped with antique furniture, busts, and portraiture of regal old men. Theodore was impressed with the tall and fully loaded bookshelves, until he noticed they were filled with dusty and redundant encyclopedia volumes.</p>
<p>Mort turned a wheelchair toward Theodore. The man seated was far younger than expected, no older than Theodore himself, but the steep nose and light hair matched subjects of nearby paintings.</p>
<p>"You must be the district duke," Theodore said.</p>
<p>"Felix Ambergrail," he said. "Sixth one to the name. Probably the last, while we're at it." He leered, his skin even more pallid and his eyes more sunken than the victims in the medical ward. "You're the one they called in to hunt down the fey responsible for this blight? Great. Fantastic. Seems my time would be better spent shopping for a tombstone."</p>
<p>Theodore paid no attention to the insult. "I'm gathering information about the attacks. Stillwell told me you were the first victim."</p>
<p>"That's right. It was about six months back. One of those creatures broke into my home and tried to enchant me. Mort here managed to kill the devil, but it looks like he magicked me first." He held up a shriveled hand. "Been getting weaker by the day. Doesn't seem to matter how damn long I spend under those magic lamps. I'm dying."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Theodore said, but noted the peculiarity. "The creature died, but you believe it is responsible for your illness?"</p>
<p>"The healers say it's no natural sickness," the duke said. "I was in perfect health before the bastard broke in. Now I can't even stand on my own. You can't tell me that is a coincidence!"</p>
<p>It was still conjecture. "The courts wouldn't consider an assumption like this evidence. You felt it was basis to ban lawful citizens from an entire district of the city?"</p>
<p>Duke Ambergrail grit his teeth at him. "Did you come here to help people or to question my reasoning? Whatever you think about my decision, it was the right call! Every day more people are getting sick. I don't want to think about how much worse it would be if I hadn't taken action when I did."</p>
<p>Jotting down more notes, Theodore flipped back to review what he'd learned at the university. "Stillwell told me the affliction isn't any kind of spell. If it were, we could identify its effect and aura. How can we be sure it's being caused by fairies?"</p>
<p>"The watch has captured more than a couple fey sneaking past the ban, breaking into homes. Not what I would call lawful behavior. Got them caged downtown, if you need to see for yourself."</p>
<p>Theodore pocketed his pencil. "I'll make that my next stop. Hopefully one of them will come clean, and then I can get to the bottom of this. Thank you for your time, lordship."</p>
<p>"Hold a moment, Deputy," Felix said before Theodore could leave. Mort obstructed the door, being the perfect shape for it. "I'm not sure when knight training got so lax that pointing a finger at beasts is cause to raise your eyebrows at me, so let me set something straight. Fairies are dangerous."</p>
<p>"They've been our allies for hundreds of years," Theodore said.</p>
<p>"That's no reason to trust them," the duke said, tapping the rings on his fingers. "Do you know the first thing about the fey? They'll say and do anything to use their magic on us. That's how they survive. Every spell they cast on us gives them Fates. You get that? Doesn't matter what laws we pass, what treaties they sign. We're prey to them, and if a man in your profession doesn't keep that in mind then you're going to wind up dead!"</p>
<p>"I've lived with fairies and ghasts for some time now," Theodore said. "Maybe some are dangerous, but not all. Not most. I don't understand where this attitude of yours is coming from."</p>
<p>Felix clenched the arm of his wheelchair tight. Mort poured the duke a shot of bourbon, which seemed to soothe him. They offered Theodore a glass but he waved it away. Cradling the small, empty cup, the duke tried to find his voice again.</p>
<p>"Six years ago, the fey took my father. ...Felix the fifth, if you're keeping track. I didn't see it happen, but I heard it. They kidnapped him in the middle of the night." Mort poured him another glass. "Never found out why. I'm told important people are more valuable to them. They can draw more power out of them. All I know is that I never saw him again, and then I had to grow up fast enough to take his place."</p>
<p>"That's terrible," Theodore said. The pain was clear in the man's face. "I'm sorry."</p>
<p>"I'm not saying this so you can pity me," he said. "I'm telling you so you step lightly. The fey are dangerous, Grayweather. Don't let them take advantage of you."</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Episode 3 Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe flinched as the iron door shrieked shut behind them. Dim gray hallways lined with barred cells stretched ahead. Here underground, beneath all the fancy buildings in the city center, the humans kept their dungeon. She stood back while Theo did the talking, pointing his badge and explaining why they had come, until the grumpy knights agreed to let them through.</p>
<p>Theo was flustered when he came back from the Duke's. He wasn't mad anymore, or maybe he was. There was a thoughtful pause before everything he said, and that made her worry. His voice was pointed when he talked about what the duke had said. Maybe what he was mad at what he'd learned instead.</p>
<p>It was cold in the dungeon, and dank too. There was no sunlight at all, just lamps burning magic. The iron in the walls around them made her head hurt. Oboe wondered if the witch Flip was locked up somewhere nearby, and hoped she wouldn't see him. Everything about this place was awful. The sooner they left, the better.</p>
<p>"Here we are," the jail knight said. "Block D6. All the fairies we've caught violating the ban."</p>
<p>Oboe stuck her face between the bars to look, and saw a miserable pack creatures. A pair of gnomes were curled up like porcupines on the floor with tiny fetters on their feet. A ragged looking green nymph sat bow legged next to a leshy with skin furrowed like a walnut tree. There were long-eared pooka rabbits too, but what caught Oboe's attention more than anything was the familiar looking sylph staring back at her.</p>
<p>"Thistle??" Oboe said, rattling the cell door. "What are you doing here?!"</p>
<p>The bug man groaned, hopping onto his little feet. "Rotting. What does it look like?"</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" She said. It was hard to tell. Thistle always looked beat up. He was old, his exoskeleton was cracked, and he was missing half an antenna. That was all normal for him.</p>
<p>"Oh, never better! Just waiting for my turn at the spa they got in here." He held up all four of his shackled arms and sneered.  "I'm in a dungeon, nitwit! It's lousy!"</p>
<p>"This is that sylph we met in the Hollows," Theo said. "The one that makes nightmares for ghasts."</p>
<p>"Thistle doesn't belong in here!" Oboe said. "He's not wicked! He's good!"</p>
<p>The sylph scoffed. "Y'know, I tried telling the guard that but I don't think he believed me."</p>
<p>Oboe marched up to the knight that had let them in. "What do I have to do so Thistle goes free?"</p>
<p>"Everyone here is charged with unlawful entry and criminal infiltration," he said. "The bond for those crimes is nine-hundred thalers each. None of them have been able to pay the fine."</p>
<p>Oboe despaired, until she realized she had a whole bag of money around her neck. "I'll pay for him!"</p>
<p>"I don't think that's wise." Theo said. "He's a suspect. What if he's one of the fairies making people sick?"</p>
<p>Oboe stomped her hoof, angry now. "Thistle is my best friend! He would never hurt anybody!"</p>
<p>"Yeah, you moron! I'm innocent!" Thistle said.</p>
<p>Theo looked down at him. "Are you claiming you didn't actually violate the fairy ban?"</p>
<p>He stared. "Well, okay. I'm definitely guilty of that," he said. "But I swear on the Mother of Magic we had a good reason for it! That other stuff you were saying? Making humans sick? I got nothing to do with that. None of us in here do."</p>
<p>"Okay. Then I want to pay for everyone to go free," Oboe said.</p>
<p>Theo took her aside. "Are you sure about this? That's more money than you even have right now. This will wipe you out."</p>
<p>"Oh." She opened her pouch and counted out what she had. "Can I borrow the rest from you? I promise I will work it off."</p>
<p>"I thought you wanted to have a house built?" He said.</p>
<p>Oboe remembered the idea of having her own cottage. That still sounded wonderful, she still wanted it, but it would have to wait. "Thistle is more important. If he says these fairies are good, I believe him."</p>
<p>"This is dangerous," Theo said. "I'm not sure I should allow this."</p>
<p>"Please, Theo." Just this once, she needed him to listen. "Trust me. I've known Thistle since I was a kid. He's not wicked. I know what I'm doing."</p>
<p>Theo was silent, weighing her words. There was an intense, shifting look on his face that she did not know how to read. She held her breath while she waited for him to say something.</p>
<p>"Okay," he said. "I'm trusting you."</p>
<p>She pulled him into a big awkward hug. "Thank you!"</p>
<p>The guard cleared his throat. "If you're serious about paying for their release, I'll need you to fill out some forms."</p>
<p>Theo turned back toward Thistle. "You said you had a reason for breaking the ban. I want to hear it."</p>
<p>"I'll do better than that," Thistle said. "You get us out of here, and I'll show you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Episode 3 Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Have you got moss in your eyes?!" Thistle said, shaking a tiny fist at Theodore. "Did you see the rest of us walk clockwise around that tree?! Imbecile! Go back and do it the other way!"</p>
<p>Theodore stopped and gave Oboe an annoyed glance. He wondered why she trusted this hateful sylph so much. He knew the Whirlwood was tricky to navigate, it looped on itself in strange ways by magic, but Thistle had the patience of an angry wasp. Theodore turned back and marched around the tree as instructed.</p>
<p>"Good," Thistle said. "Now if you're done wasting my time, let's get on with it!"</p>
<p>The whole troop of fairy ex-convicts started moving again, with Thistle leading everyone somewhere that would supposedly explain everything. The trip felt longer than it was because of the bug man's belligerent attitude.</p>
<p>"What's Thistle's problem?" Theodore said to Oboe. "You let him out of jail and he's acting like we left him to rot."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" She said. "He's in a way better mood than usual! He's just a prickly pear, that's all. Sweet on the inside, where it counts."</p>
<p>Theodore was skeptical. Against the advice of the duke, and against his own better judgment, he'd chosen to trust Oboe on this. There was a chance this was a mistake. He couldn't rule out the possibility these fairies were the ones responsible for the attacks. There was no knowing, at least not until he had all the information. He decided he owed it to Oboe to take the risk.</p>
<p>After a few more bends in the trail, and a few more tantrums from Thistle, they passed into a wide clearing Theodore had never seen before. A great round stone amphitheater stood there, worn raw from rain and overgrown with ivy and trees. There was a quiet, with the only sound being wind chimes giving voice to the soft breeze blowing from the East. He followed the fairies inside and saw a sprawling bed of white wildflowers filling the center. Shafts of warm green light filtered through the trees. Rising above the blooms was a monument: A thick stone disc held vertical, a circle comprised of concentric circles and interlocking segments. Theodore recognized it. It was the symbol of the church of the Mother of Magic.</p>
<p>The gnomes, pooka and nymph with them broke off from the group and climbed up the steps into the amphitheater seats. There, they joined a handful of other creatures. A werewolf, several leshy, trolls, and even ferals sat with heads bent or hands clasped. Theodore realized this was a place of worship.</p>
<p>"I didn't know fairies and ghasts believed in the Mother of Magic," Theodore said.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah?" Thistle aimed a scowl at him. "Just 'cause humans discovered a religion, you think you get dibs on it forever? Typical." He shrugged. "Come on, I didn't bring you here to gawk like a bigot. I got someone for you to meet."</p>
<p>In the bottom front row of seats was a nymph. She was dressed in a flowing, featureless white mantle. Her hair was like long spiky blades of grass braided together. Her fingers were locked together and her eyes shut in deep meditation. Oboe stayed back as they moved closer.</p>
<p>"HEY GARDNER!" Thistle said, and whistled by blowing through his twiggy fingers. "Wake up! Talk to this guy for me!"</p>
<p>She opened her pupilless eyes. "Hello Thistle." She stood up. "I see you have brought the Ranger Deputy to see me. Greetings, and welcome to our Sanctuary."</p>
<p>"You have me at a disadvantage," Theodore said.</p>
<p>"I am Gardner Feather," she said with a bow. "I serve here as head priestess for the Outer Whirlwood community. I've heard good things about you, Sir Grayweather."</p>
<p>Theodore tried not to cringe at the title. "Are you part of the Laien diocese?"</p>
<p>"Our scriptures differ, but the message is the same. It is written that we are all part of Her. It is no less true even if we are not of the First Born."</p>
<p>The words were familiar, even if Theodore had never studied any of the holy texts himself. He had tried once, and found the lack of glossary and cross referencing too irritating to proceed. It was all parables instead of direct explanations. Theodore preferred to have his questions answered by academic textbooks for that reason. His father had never asked him to go to the cathedral to stand in the ring of worship. Lance claimed to believe but only got angry whenever the subject of faith came up. Theodore never pressed the matter. It was one of the few things they did not argue about.</p>
<p>"I'm here as part of an investigation," Theodore said. "Several fairies have violated a ban prohibiting them to enter certain districts in the city, and using magic illegally on humans. Thistle thinks you can tell me why."</p>
<p>Her eyes faltered. "He was right to bring you here. Yes. Several members of this community volunteered to sneak into the banned sections of the city. It is something I cannot officially endorse, but neither will I condemn it. They have good reason."</p>
<p>"And what is that reason?"</p>
<p>"This way," she said before stepping out into the bed of flowers. The plants seemed to bend around her bare feet. Theodore followed her into the poppies and daisies, trying to be careful not to stomp on any of the blossoms. Eyes down, he was startled when he spotted a body lying hidden among the flowers. A faun, like Oboe, wearing a green cloak and lying at his feet. His body was ashen colored, and weak, like the life had been drained out of him. Theodore looked up and saw there was a dozen others in the flowers as well, all different species of fairy. The faun looked up at him with a soft groan. His expression was feeble, vulnerable, exhausted.</p>
<p>"They're sick," Theodore said. "Like the people at the university ward."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Episode 3 Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore turned back to the priestess Feather. "What is this illness? Are these fairies being drained of magic?"</p>
<p>"We fey are magic made flesh," she said, mortified. "We would sooner survive if you tore out our blood and bones. No. This is something far simpler. They are all starving for Fates."</p>
<p>"I don't understand," Theodore said. The duke had mentioned the term before. "What do you mean by Fates? That they're hungry for a future?"</p>
<p>Feather strained to force a smile, which Theodore took to mean he was ignorant of something so basic it was embarrassing. "Let me try to explain. Are you familiar with the story of how the fey were created?"</p>
<p>He stopped himself from launching into a summary of the leading scientific theories. She was talking about the religious story. It took him a moment to dig through his dustier memories to remember.</p>
<p>"Allegedly," he said. "Sometime before our oldest surviving historical records, humans were able to use magic the way fairies and ghasts can. …We used it to wage wars against one another, which angered the Mother of Magic. So, She came down from the sky and separated our magic from our bodies, and it transformed into all the different lifeforms which use thaumaturgical energy as the basis for their biology. According to the story, fairies and ghasts were created to punish us for our mistakes."</p>
<p>Feather nodded. "We tell it differently. When the First Born misused their gifts, the Mother's anger and mercy descended as burning rings of silver and iron. Her anger took the gift of magic from them, but Her mercy decided you were not without hope. She created us, the Second and Third Born, so that we could guide you and other forms of life as well. To ensure we did not stray from our purpose, the Mother made it so each of us had a basic need to use our magic to affect change and growth on the world. When a fairy uses her magic to enchant a human, and the enchantment affects lasting change in the direction of that human's life, she gains Fates from the human."</p>
<p>She gestured towards the sick fey lying in the flowerbeds. "We need Fates to sustain us. Magic aches to find purpose, and any fairy that cannot find an expression for her magic will grow weak and die."</p>
<p>"Why can't these fairies use their magic?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"Because of the ban, you idiot!" Thistle came wading out into the flowers, shoving and punching blossoms out of his way. "These saps are dream sowers. It's their job to plant dreams in human heads to survive, but you lot made it the law that they can only do that in certain parts of the city if they've got a special piece of paper." He glared at Theodore, as if he was personally responsible for this. "Guess what happens when you ban a bunch of fairies from the one place they're allowed to use their magic!"</p>
<p>This was a major regulatory oversight. "The city wouldn't make a mistake like this without reason," Theodore said. "The ban is in effect because of fairy attacks against humans."</p>
<p>"That's not fair!" Oboe shouted from outside the flowerbed. "Only wicked fairies use their magic to hurt people! You shouldn't make the good ones suffer too!"</p>
<p>Feather turned to look at her. She shrank away at the attention, turning into a mouse to hide. This was strange behavior for Oboe. Why was she keeping her distance?</p>
<p>"I cannot speak in defense of all fey," Feather said to Theodore. "The fact remains that these ones are in pain. They need humans to experience the dreams they make, or else they will perish. Let me confess the truth to you, Deputy. Members of this ring of worship volunteered to sneak past the ban to deliver dreams to humans. Most of them were caught and imprisoned. I did nothing to stop them from breaking these laws, but I promise you they meant no harm to any human."</p>
<p>"Was that why you were in jail, Thistle?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>The short bug man glowered. "None of your business what I choose to do."</p>
<p>Theodore looked at the array of afflicted fairies spread out across the flowerbed. He squeezed the ring on his finger, wondering if he was blinding himself again. The laws of the kingdom of Laien brought necessary order, but he knew first hand that they were not always fair. He knew that there was a chance that these fairies could be dangerous, that what they were telling him was a lie, but that's not what he felt.</p>
<p>"If I dreamed for these fairies, will that cure them?" He said. "Can I help them?"</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Episode 3 Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Feather brought a salver dish filled with a thick amber colored fluid, and bent down carefully beside a sick gnome lying in the flowers. Thistle helped to prop the creature up, holding him as he limped closer. The tiny hedgehog man moved his fingers over the liquid in arcane gestures, until a thin golden bubble rose into the air. Feather took the bubble gently in her palm.</p>
<p>Nervous, Theodore eyed the enchanted bubble and thought about the duke's warning. He remembered how school children were always warned to beware the enchantments of the fey, how their gifts always came with a cost. If they were deceiving him, he could wind up in the university medical ward himself. Theodore swallowed this anxiety. The creatures here deserved more than the suspicion he'd seen. They needed help.</p>
<p>"A word of warning," Feather said, stepping nearer to him. "A fairy dream is different than one a human has naturally. It is wild magic touching your mind. The sower can give it shape, but it will still act of its own will. The magic will look inside you, searching for cross roads in your life, and it will try to nudge you in a direction."</p>
<p>Theodore knew of fairy dreams, though not in this detail. Most of his books considered them a harmless nuisance, but he'd also read about humans falling ill from being exposed to too many of them. "You make it sound benign," he said.</p>
<p>She tilted her head. "Normally, it is. But we have many sick fairies. If you will bear it, I need to ask you to take several dreams into your mind at once. Each one will latch on to a purpose or buried desire, and will fight to influence you. They cannot harm you ...But it will not be pleasant."</p>
<p>"What do you think, Oboe?" Theodore said, needing reassurance. It unnerved him that she had been so quiet.</p>
<p>Oboe popped back to her full size, looking uncomfortable to have any attention directed at her. "I can't do dreams," she said. "But a dream can hurt. Not like your body, but your head and your heart. It could be scary, 'cause you won't have all your memories, and maybe it will be a nightmare that pushes you really hard. The worst that can happen is you get trapped in the dream, but that won't happen unless the fairy that makes the dream is wicked."</p>
<p>The gnome wheezed, seized with a coughing fit. It was enough to firm Theodore's resolve. They had far more at stake than he did.</p>
<p>"If it helps, I'll do it."</p>
<p> Oboe made a soft happy noise. Everyone looked at her, which seemed to make her nervous. "Th-thank you for doing this, Theo. You're wonderful!"</p>
<p>Feather made a place for him to lie down among the flowers. It was more comfortable than it looked. She took the bubble between her fingers and pressed it against his forehead. It burst, and his vision filled with a blinding white.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Episode 3 Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The fog was growing thick. It wafted through the city streets outside the window, and made the neighborhood seem strange and unfamiliar. Theodore was shaken from his daze when he heard shouting coming from downstairs.</p>
<p>"Theo!" The walls shook. Father was stomping through the halls in his heavy boots somewhere below. "Where are you?!"</p>
<p>They had played this game for years now, but somehow Lance did not know the answer. Theodore was in the library, like he always was. He leaned back, shoving his face back in the book he had chosen. The argument was coming. There was no point in getting up when it would come to him. It didn't matter what he did. It never did.</p>
<p>Lance Grayweather stormed past the door, and for a moment Theodore wondered if his father had missed him. He wasn't that lucky. The Hero Champion came barreling back into the room in full battle armor. A mountain of a man, with amber skin and dark hair quaffed to look daring. He was everything scrawny young Theodore was not.</p>
<p>"There you are!" Lance said. "What are you doing here?! You were supposed to meet with the Knight Commander two hours ago!"</p>
<p>"Are you surprised?" Theodore did not look up from his book. "I told you I wouldn't go. Shocking how that turned out."</p>
<p>Lance buried his face in his palm to stifle a growl. "Son, we've talked about this! You can't throw away an opportunity like this. Do you have any idea how much most men would give up for a chance to join the Knights of the Realm?! Think of your future!"</p>
<p>Theodore stared at the words on the page, unable to read them. The Order of the Realm spent its days traipsing across the countryside looking for bandits to fight and monsters to slay. "I don't want to be a knight."</p>
<p>The words stung. It was a moment before Lance opened his eyes again. "Every Grayweather is a knight." He was straining to stay calm. "Duty and honor are in your blood, whether you like it or not. I'm not going to let you squander your potential like this!"</p>
<p>"I said I don't want to be a knight!" Theodore slammed his book onto the table. "Why won't you ever listen to me!? I'm not strong, and I don't want to fight! I want to go to the university! I want to teach!"</p>
<p>He laughed. "Do you think I'm going to pay for that? Pay for you to throw away your career?!"</p>
<p>"I don't need your money!" Theodore would rather lose his inheritance than cave in to his father. "I'll work if I have to! I don't want your help!"</p>
<p>Lance paced, pounding the floor like a tiger in a cage. "You're so damn stubborn. Why are you like this? I know you have the knack, if you'd just apply yourself!"</p>
<p>"I'm not like you!" Theodore said. "You're just a thug! An old killer they dressed up nice! I'd rather kill myself than be like you!"</p>
<p> Everything stopped. This argument had happened so many times that Theodore had lost track of how often. It was the same every time. Father would plead, wheedle and guilt hoping to convince Theodore to somehow change who he was. Since that never worked, it escalated to screaming and cursing until a door was slammed and both would stew until they could pretend nothing had happened.</p>
<p>This was different. Lance Grayweather, the Hero Champion of Laien, stopped shouting and stared at his son with eyes so full of hurt that it was burned forever into Theodore's memory. A haunting silence stretched on for what felt like hours.</p>
<p>Lance hung in the doorway, turning away. "I don't have time for this." His voice was firm, but hollow. "I have to see to a mission. We'll talk more when I return."</p>
<p>Theodore's throat tightened. This moment, this unbearable scene, had happened before. The anger and sorrow clicked in his mind like a key, and he remembered with crystal certainty that his father would never come home again after walking through that door. Lance was found dead on the trade road a week later, his body brutalized. The funeral flashed in Theodore's mind like a prophecy. If Lance left home, if Theodore didn't do something, he was going to die on his mission, and these would be the last words they would share with one another.</p>
<p>"Wait!" He reached out and grabbed his father's wrist to stop him. It was stiff, and cold to the touch. The room went dark, as if the sun has been snuffed. Lance turned back, his eyes dead, and took Theodore by the arm with a crushing grip.</p>
<p>"You killed me."</p>
<p>Theodore pulled away. His home warped and melted around him. The rain came pouring down, and he ran.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Episode 3 Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe hung back, wanting to watch Theo but worried about Gardner Feather. Would she run her off now that Theo wasn't awake? Oboe's fur stood on end as the priestess walked closer. She wondered if she ought to run.</p>
<p>"Be at ease," the Gardner said.</p>
<p>Oboe's eyes darted around looking to see who Feather was talking to. There was no one else. Feather was talking to her. She wasn't supposed to do that.</p>
<p>"What?" Oboe said.</p>
<p>The Gardner gestured toward Theo. "I believe you would be happier to be at your friend's side."</p>
<p>"...You're not supposed to be nice to me," Oboe said.</p>
<p>"You are right," she said. "But, as you can see, I am very busy tending to the sick. So busy, in fact, I think it will be impossible for me to do anything about your being here. So, I hope that you will leave of your own accord after you have stolen a bit of the solace we have denied you."</p>
<p>She was speaking in riddles. "You're breaking the rules," Oboe said.</p>
<p>Feather bowed. "It is written: '<em>All magic, and every creature touched by it, is born with the purpose to do good</em>.' Remember that the Fairy Circle is not the Mother of Magic. Our people fall short of Her purpose for us every day." With that, she walked off.</p>
<p>Oboe wasn't sure what to think. It seemed she got to stay, even if it was against the rules. Feeling a little bolder, she stepped into the blessed flowerbed to sit by Theo. He stirred, restless and silent. There was nothing to do but wait.</p>
<p>She looked around. Her eyes met with those of one of the sick fairies, a faun like her. She froze. He was a buck, about Oboe's age. It was foolish, but she could not stop herself from pushing her luck.</p>
<p>"Hi," she said, ready to run.</p>
<p>The faun groaned, struggling to sit up. He had shaggy dark fur and a notched ear. For a moment he didn't say anything. "Hello."</p>
<p>"I'm Oboe. ...What's your name?"</p>
<p>"Zither," he said, looking away.</p>
<p>"I, er..." Oboe felt like an idiot. "I don't see many other fauns outside the Circle."</p>
<p>He winced. "Yeah well... I kind of burnt some bridges there. I'm not out here by choice."</p>
<p>"Oh!" Were they the same? "Me too! I'm a--"</p>
<p>"I know what you are," Zither said.</p>
<p>Oboe's heart sank. She reminded herself that it was a waste of time to talk to other fauns. But then, to her surprise, Zither's face softened.</p>
<p>"Sorry," he said. "I'm taking forever to die and it's making me grouchy."</p>
<p>"It's okay." She told herself to let it go, and bent down next to him. "Don't worry! Theo said he's going to help!"</p>
<p>Zither furrowed his brow. "That guy?" They both glanced at him dreaming among the flowers. "He can dream for us, but in a month's time we'll be right back where we started: withering away because the humans won't let us near them."</p>
<p>"Well, maybe Theo can fix it! He's the Ranger Deputy. He can go talk to the humans, make them get rid of the ban. That way we can save all of you!"</p>
<p>He let out a snort. "Humans got us in this mess in the first place. Hateful creatures. We can't count on them to fix this. All they care about is themselves."</p>
<p>"Theo's not like that," Oboe said. "He's good."</p>
<p>"Really?" He said, skeptical. "So he's perfect? Never done anything wrong? Ever?"</p>
<p>Oboe felt doubt creep in. Theo had captured the Tall Man even though he was innocent. The ghast could've been killed, and it would've been Theo's fault. She shook her head. That wasn't what happened. She had to get loud, but he listened to her, and they made it right together. If what Feather said was true, that fairies could fall short but still have a good purpose, so could humans. "He's not perfect," she said. "But he cares about creatures, and he cares about doing the right thing."</p>
<p>"Well, just 'cause you have one good sprout doesn't mean the rest of them aren't weeds," Zither said. "I'm not counting on him, but maybe I can count on you."</p>
<p>Oboe caught his eyes drifting over her body. Her heart raced. She saw other fauns so rarely, and they never so much as looked at her. The dread of being alone was a dull ache she was all too familiar with. The way his gaze trailed along her hips and chest made her wonder if the past didn't matter.</p>
<p>"It seems like you've got this humans ear," Zither said. "If you think you can talk the humans into lifting the ban, maybe you can save us."</p>
<p>Letting her own eyes wander, Oboe permitted herself the guilty pleasure of taking in the buck in front of her. He had good horns, rounded but a bit battered. The fauns of the Circle were well groomed and trimmed, but Zither was scruffy and rugged. His body was nice and fit, but pot marked by scars. He would be more attractive if he took better care of himself, and maybe if his chin were stronger or his shoulders broader, but Oboe told herself she couldn't afford to be choosey. If she had a chance at happiness then she needed to take it.</p>
<p>"I'll talk to Theo," she said. "We'll find a way to save you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Episode 3 Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Water rushed down the stairwell of the university. Theodore clung to the hand rail, pushing forward and upwards through the waist high downpour to escape.</p>
<p>Something had happened to the university. A storm was tearing the science tower apart, flooding everything. If he could find somewhere safe, and regroup with the rest of the faculty, they could analyze whatever magic was at work and put a stop to it.</p>
<p>His robes were soaked through as he waded down the hall. He rounded the corner and froze. The specter was waiting for him, standing perfectly still. Father's eyes were piercing. Theodore told himself it was just a ghast taking human form. It wanted to frighten him, to torment him. No doubt it was part of whatever was causing this disaster. Theodore backed away, determined to find another route.</p>
<p>The creature chased after him, marching through the water as if it was nothing. It wasn't Lance. It couldn't be. Theodore slipped, wrestled himself back onto his feet, and slogged as fast as his strength allowed. He glanced back, his heart pounding, the storm raging around him, and saw the monster gaining on him. There was no time to find help. Theodore ducked inside a classroom to take shelter, and pushed the doors shut. Shattering a chair against the wall, he used the wood to brace the door and then piled desks to blockade the entrance.</p>
<p>It did not matter. A gleaming sword stabbed. It was his father's sword, a claymore bearing the Grayweather family crest. It sliced through the door and adjoining wall without effort, and then Lance knocked aside the desks with a fist sending them splashing into the water. That sword, the sword his father took with him before he died, killed any doubt left in Theodore's mind. This was his father.</p>
<p>"Why are you here?!" Theodore said.</p>
<p>Lance descended into the auditorium, drawing closer.</p>
<p>"Why won't you leave me alone?!" Theodore retreated as far as he could. "I'm happy here!" He grabbed a sopping wet stack of ungraded homework off the teacher's desk. He thrust the limp papers at his father. "This is what I want! Why can't you accept that?! Why won't you just let me be what I want to be?!" The rain mingled with his tears.</p>
<p>Lance tore the homework out of Theodore's hand. "A knight does not sniffle." He took Theodore by the wrist and pulled him across the classroom. Theodore tried to resist, but he wasn't strong enough. He was only a child. His father was so much bigger.</p>
<p>"Let go!" Little Theo said, but it was no use. His father never listened.</p>
<p>The floor was gone. They fell together into the dark, air rushing across them, down and down, faster and faster. Theo's heart shrank as he knew they had gone too far and he would die.</p>
<p>They hit ground. Theo felt the shock of it but no pain, only a daze from which he fought to collect himself. He realized they were in the main square of the Hollows. It was empty, devoid of any life, except for one single ghast. Silas Jack, the leader of the Red Caps, stood in front of them. He watched Theo with pleading eyes.</p>
<p>"Son," Lance said, and opened Theo's shaking palm. "This is what you were born to do. Everyone is counting on you. Finish what I started." He placed the enchanted knife back in Theo's hand. It was bright with Flip's magic. "Slay the monster and keep the kingdom safe."</p>
<p>The blade was heavy, so heavy Theo couldn't bear to hold onto it. He tried to let go, but he couldn't. His body lurched forward like a marionette, the knife aimed at Silas Jack's heart.</p>
<p>Silas stood rigid, his body frozen in place. His lips mouthed the same words over and over. His familiar sneer was gone, replaced with a desperate stare. Theo fought to stop, to slow down. The ghast's voice rose as Theo drew closer.</p>
<p>"You promised," he said, then faster. "You promised. You promised. You promised."</p>
<p>"You feel sorry for this creature?" Lance said. "He tried to kill you! Stop him or people will die! Your country needs you to act like a knight!!"</p>
<p>Theo raised the knife, his arm lifted by chains wrapped tight around his wrist. He saw the same chains shackled around the arms and legs of Silas Jack.</p>
<p>"We need a knight too," Silas said. "We need a Ranger Deputy."</p>
<p>Theodore wheeled around and sank the knife into his father's heart. Lance buckled, the look of betrayal clearer than the look of pain. "Theo..." He said, his last gasp before his father died one more time.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Episode 3 Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking was like falling into freezing water. Theodore sat up in the flowerbed, gasping for breath as if drowning. Oboe jumped to his side, helping him to his feet.</p>
<p>"Are you okay??" She said, concerned. "You're crying!"</p>
<p>Theodore gathered himself enough to wipe his red hot face. "I'm fine!" He said, and staggered away from her. His body felt sore and empty. He needed a moment to gather himself.</p>
<p>"Then he can go on?" Said the faun in the flowers. "Put him back down, Oboe. There are more of us who need him to dream!"</p>
<p>"No, Zither! That is enough!" Feather said, striding between them. "We've given him three, and now his aura is dark and heavy. Any more will poison him."</p>
<p>Theodore remembered the dream he had that morning and wondered if he was already poisoned. He was grateful the priestess was not pushing him to take on more.</p>
<p>"What about the rest of us?" Zither said, pointing towards the other half dozen fairies still ashen and Fate-starved. "Are we supposed to just die?"</p>
<p>"Stop your belly-aching, brat." Thistle said. "We treated the worst off first. You're young. You'll be fine to sit here until we find a way to help you."</p>
<p>Zither lurched to sit up. "You were doing a fine job of that locked in the dungeon. One volunteer human doesn't change the fact that given enough time we're going to drop dead!"</p>
<p>"We aren't going to let that happen," Oboe said. She offered Theodore his glasses back. "Right?"</p>
<p>Shaking off the weariness that had overcome him, Theodore put his spectacles back on and straightened his posture. "This isn't a long-term solution. I need to bring this matter to the attention of city officials." He consulted his notes, and grimaced. "There's another problem, however. I understand now why fairies are sneaking past the ban, but it doesn't explain the epidemic in the city."</p>
<p>"What epidemic?" Feather said.</p>
<p>"A bunch of humans are sick because they haven't got enough magic in their bodies," Oboe said. "They think we're stealing it from him."</p>
<p>Thistle burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Which is saying something, 'cause I'm old and deal with humans a lot. You creatures are always blaming us for things that are your own damn fault."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"You build a big city out of iron and wonder why you aren't getting enough magic." Thistle crossed his arms. "You're dampening the ambient magic in the air with all your machines, and you aren't letting creatures like us touch you with our magic. OF COURSE you're getting sick! You're starving yourselves and don't even realize it!"</p>
<p>Theodore recalled how Dr. Stillwell claimed the number of cases exploded after the ban was expanded. If this was the cause of the sickness, it made sense. "There's a problem with this theory. The ban started because the duke in control of the district was attacked by a fairy. He was the first documented case of the illness."</p>
<p>"We shouldn't all have to suffer because some idiot did something stupid," Zither said. "You need to help us. It's your job, right?"</p>
<p>Oboe pulled on Theodore's sleeve. "We should tell that doctor why people are getting sick. That way we can help everyone."</p>
<p>"I don't know that I can prove that, though," he said.</p>
<p>"You have to try!" She said. "You know they aren't responsible for this, but other humans won't listen to creatures like us! They need you to speak for them!"</p>
<p>Theodore looked at the affected fairies again, knowing that city had let them fall through the cracks. He always believed that laws and government regulation were supposed to be there for the benefit of everyone, but the governor had proven to him that this wasn't always the case. He looked at the handful of fairies who were in better shape now, and knew they needed more than one bad dream to get them by. They needed their city to recognize their needs.</p>
<p>"I'll do everything I can to help," Theodore said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Episode 3 Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo dropped the sweet potato into Oboe's hands. It was wrapped in old newspaper and still so hot she had to bounce it palm to palm. The street vendor snuffed the flame of his grill and closed up shop. The day was fading and they were the last of the customers. Off the bridge and in the distance, workers in the shipyard hurried to tie up sails and unload cargo before the sun set.</p>
<p>"Thank you!" Oboe said. Excited, she unwrapped her sweet potato and took a big bite. She burnt her tongue and had to puff with the morsel in her mouth before she could swallow. After going so long without a meal, it tasted amazing.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry you had to pay for me," she said. "I've caused so much trouble today."</p>
<p>Theo sat down next to her on the bench. "Don't worry about it," he said, waiting for his food to cool. Oboe wondered whether it really was okay. He'd been quiet ever since he woke up from the fairy dream. Something was bothering him, but it didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it. He was like a bottle you couldn't see through. She finished her own potato, while he stared off watching the sailors work.</p>
<p>"Hey," she said. "What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?"</p>
<p>Theo stared at his wrapped food. "...Yeah," he said. "Starving, actually."</p>
<p>"It's gonna get cold if you don't eat it." She gave him a gentle poke. "You're supposed to eat it while it's hot. That's the rules."</p>
<p>Mustering up the effort, he managed to unwrap the sweet potato. Something still wasn't right. He was hesitating. Oboe knew she would only make things worse by talking, but she was worried. She wanted to help.</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" She said.</p>
<p>"Not really," he said.</p>
<p>It was more than she expected. He always said things were fine, that she shouldn't worry. She scooted closer.</p>
<p>"Because of the dream?" She said.</p>
<p>"Yeah," he said. "That's part of it."</p>
<p>"Do you wanna talk about it?"</p>
<p>He looked at her.</p>
<p>"You don't have to!" Oboe said, wondering how many mistakes she was making. "But... maybe talking about it would make you feel better."</p>
<p>He opened his mouth. "I was..." He stopped, and took a big breath like he was about to do something scary. "I was dreaming about my father."</p>
<p>Oboe tried not think about how long it had been since she'd seen her dad. "That sounds like a good dream."</p>
<p>"It wasn't," he said. "He and I never got along."</p>
<p>"Why not?"</p>
<p>"I don't know." Theo leaned forward, his face tense. "We argued all the time. Always about the same thing, all the way up to the day he died. He was always trying to make me into a knight."</p>
<p>Oboe blinked. "But you are a knight." Then, she thought about it. "Oh. You told me you wanted to work at the university. He didn't want you to do that?"</p>
<p>Theo chuckled. "The only thing he cared about was making me fit the family legacy. Every day he forced me to train, to fight, to learn how to kill. I hated it."</p>
<p>"Did you tell him that?" She said.</p>
<p>"I tried," Theo said. "He never listened. All that mattered was that I become a knight like him."</p>
<p>It was hard for Oboe to relate. She would've liked to have a purpose given to her like that, but it sounded like Theo had found one already. "It's not what you wanted."</p>
<p>"Not at all," he said. To her surprise, an actual smile crossed his lips. "He threw the biggest fit when I told him I planned to attend the University. Do you know he withheld my inheritance to change my mind? One of his better tricks. Not that it worked. I was done letting him pressure me."</p>
<p>"Why didn't you want to be a knight?" Oboe said.</p>
<p>"They're awful," Theo said. "Muscle-headed brutes paid to kill and maim. Nothing more."</p>
<p>Oboe squeezed her empty money pouch, feeling the toy soldier inside. That's why he didn't like her gift. "That's not true. My tutors taught me about the treaties when I was little. The Knights of Laien are sworn to come help us if things get bad. That's why we're friends with the humans."</p>
<p>Theo tightened his lips. "You make them sound like heroes. I don't think real knights are like that."</p>
<p>"I think you are," Oboe said. "You didn't want to stay in the Whirlwood, but we needed you so you did anyway. You came to the rescue just like knights are supposed to." She clutched her pouch tighter. "Maybe some knights are bad. Like how some creatures are wicked. But that means the ones like you are wonderful."</p>
<p>He looked stunned. "That's... kind of you." He didn't know what else to say, so he looked down at his sweet potato instead. "Thank you. For that, and for listening. I never talked about this with anyone before. It feels nice."</p>
<p>Oboe felt warm inside, happy that she'd helped.</p>
<p>Theo ate his cold potato. He seemed to enjoy it anyway. "We'd better get going. If we're going to save the day, we'd better talk to Stillwell before it gets dark."</p>
<p>She smiled, and they crossed the bridge together.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Episode 3 Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore descended the stairs of the medical tower, rehearsing his arguments in his head. He found Dr. Stillwell in a dim room sharp with the scent of cinnamon and frankincense. He was leaning over a table, a talisman pressed to his brow. The doctor was holding a hierogram, the symbol of the Mother of Magic, his lips trembling in soundless prayer. Theodore was startled to walk in on this private moment, having never imagining Stillwell as a man of faith, but worse was the shock when he saw why.</p>
<p> Below Stillwell, a body was laid out on an exam table and covered with a clean white sheet. Theodore stiffened as he realized what he was looking at. It was a corpse.</p>
<p>"Good evening," Stillwell said. He slipped the hierogram back under his robes. His eyes were sunken and tired. Today had not been kind to him. "You're back sooner than I thought you'd be. Tell me you've found something."</p>
<p>Theodore could not help but stare at the shrouded body. The air was heavy, spiced to mask the smell of morbid reality.</p>
<p>"What happened?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"Cardiovascular failure," the doctor said, staring into space. "Without a thaumaturgic grounding, his body went into shock. By the time we got the machines on him again, it was too late."</p>
<p> The moment hung like a wet towel.</p>
<p>"I misjudged his constitution," Stillwell said. "He was young. I thought he could hold out longer. I thought we had time to tend to the others." He wiped his hands on a wash cloth and tossed the rag to the floor. "Now I've another damned body on my conscience."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Theodore said. Deeper words than that were hard to find.</p>
<p>Stillwell sighed. "So am I. For the sake of the others upstairs, I hope you've had better luck than we have."</p>
<p>It took a moment for Theodore to put himself back on track. "...I believe I've found the cause of the epidemic."</p>
<p>"Already?" He perked up, eyes focusing again. "You weeded out the fey responsible for this?"</p>
<p>"Not exactly. I believe there is a misunderstanding. Fairies are not the cause of this condition. The fairy ban is."</p>
<p>Stillwell narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"</p>
<p>"You had it backwards," Theodore said. "Fairies aren't the reason people are suffering from a deficit of magic. They're suffering because we aren't allowing fairies to interact with them."</p>
<p>"That's ridiculous. What about the attacks?" He said.</p>
<p>"Dream sowers lost their licensed territory because of the ban," Theodore said. "Now they're starving. Those creatures are trying to deliver enchanted dreams to stay alive. We're all suffering because of the ban. There isn't enough ambient magic in the city. We need those enchantments to stay healthy."</p>
<p>The doctor moved across the room, putting the table and the body between them. "And you are basing this... theory on what, precisely?"</p>
<p>This is what Theodore dreaded. "I investigated the convicted fey and spoke with the community in the Whirlwood. There was no malicious intent. They just want to help their own people."</p>
<p>"Let me get this straight," Stillwell said. "You asked the convicts why they did it, and they proclaimed their innocence. So, you believed them."</p>
<p>"I have character witnesses," Theodore said, hot with discomfort. "I believe them."</p>
<p>Stillwell squeezed his forehead, world weary again. "Mother's mercy. I can't believe someone in your position could be so naïve. Do you know nothing about fairy biology? They are driven by instinct to take advantage of us, and therefore we've no choice but to doubt their motives. They are parasites!"</p>
<p>Theodore's temper flared. The fairies were more than that. Oboe was more than that. "Ghasts and fairies are creatures of magic. If they cast a spell on one of us, that should expose us to purified magic. Enough to cure those people upstairs."</p>
<p>"Are you suggesting we bring fairies in to enchant human beings?" Stillwell clenched a fist. "Out of the question! They could cast curses, transform bodies, or worse! It's too dangerous!"</p>
<p>"But it will work!" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"We don't know that," Stillwell said.</p>
<p>"But the explanation makes sense. You said yourself that the number of cases exploded after districts were added to the ban."</p>
<p> The doctor waved at the corpse between them. "People's lives are on the line. I'm not going to have you gamble on conjecture!"</p>
<p>Theodore banged a hand on the table. "This is the University! This is the seat where we advance our understanding of the world through hypothesis and experimentation! If we aren't willing to at least investigate this idea, we are already risking people's lives! I know that I'm right, but if you won't trust me then that means there is only one answer! We need to test this idea to disprove it!"</p>
<p>The two of them glared at one another, until Stillwell's eyes drifted toward the body again.</p>
<p>"I don't like it, but you are correct. We're short on ideas and treatment options. There's a chance this could work. I owe it to my patients to find out." He turned away. "I'll ask for a volunteer. Bring in a subject of your own. If the data bears out your theory, then maybe we have an answer for our dilemma."</p>
<p>Relief washed over Theodore. The doctor had given up ground. All Theodore needed was show him the truth.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Episode 3 Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You're limping!" Oboe said. "Let me help you!"</p><p>Zither pulled away from her. "I'm not dead yet," he said. "I can walk on my own."</p><p>"You're both too slow!" Thistle shouted from farther up the valley trail. "Hurry up before the humans change their mind!"</p><p>Oboe dawdled just enough to stay close to Zither as he hobbled along. As grumpy as he was, Oboe tried not to take it personally. He was weak, and angry about it. Pretty soon they'd get him to the city, and Theo's plan would save him. He'd have a long happy life after that.</p><p>"We have a long way to the capital," Oboe said. "It's okay to count on other creatures."</p><p>Ignoring her, Zither tried to push on by himself uphill. He stopped halfway, out of breath and clutching his chest. "...Alright. Fine."</p><p>He leaned on her, arm around her shoulders. His fur had a smoky scent. Oboe felt a rush to be this close to another faun, but tried to stay calm. Just because she picked Zither as the fairy to help in Theo's experiment didn't mean he would want anything to do with her after this. That was okay. Still, there was a part of her that hoped. It would be so nice to have someone other than Thistle to spend time with.</p><p>"What'll you do once you're better?" Oboe said.</p><p>"One dream isn't going to do much," Zither said. "I need Fates to live. If the humans here keep on like this, maybe it's time I packed up and moved somewhere else."</p><p>"You don't have to go!" Oboe said, worried. "We're doing this so the humans will lift the ban. You're gonna get your license back!"</p><p>"It's not going to make any difference," he said. "The humans don't care about us. They'll find a way to get what they want and then forget about us. That's how it is."</p><p>His hoof slipped in some loose dirt. Oboe caught him before he fell.</p><p>"That's not true," she said, putting him back on his feet. "Theo is a human, and he set this up for us."</p><p>Zither scoffed. "It's just his job. He's not our friend."</p><p>Oboe slowed to a stop, and wondered how true that was. She forced herself to keep moving.</p><p>"You gotta look out for yourself in this world," Zither said. "Counting on other creatures is just going to get you killed."</p><p>"I don't like that," Oboe said, righting him on her shoulder. "If we can help each other, we should try. That would make things would be better."</p><p>"Wanting something doesn't make it true," he said. "This is how things are in this world. You have to take whatever you can get."</p><p>The trees thinned and the walls of the capital loomed high over them on the rim of the valley. There was a long way left to go to get there, and it seemed so much less friendly now. She didn't like Zither's attitude. She wished he were nicer, like Theo, but maybe he was right. Maybe she needed to take what she could get to be happy.</p><p>They caught up with Thistle at the gate. "More of you?" The guard said, sword half drawn. "Visas, or clear off!" They were so much kinder when Theo was with her.</p><p>"Show them the permit, kid," Thistle said. </p><p>Oboe unfolded her visa and the exemption paperwork Theo prepared for Zither. The knight snatched the documents and scowled when he saw they were valid. He made them wait while he went to speak to a superior to make double sure. Watchmen scanned them with adder stones before finally signaling for the gate to open.</p><p>"Official business, huh," the guard said. "Don't cause any trouble."</p><p>"We won't," Oboe said.</p><p>The watchman grunted and let them through.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Episode 3 Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore hefted the canister of thaumatic fuel into the exam room, grunting and huffing. It weighed as much as a stone slab and the handle dug into his hands. He only managed to get half way across the room before he had to set it down again and catch his breath.</p>
<p>Things had been hectic all morning. Even though Dr. Stillwell gave his permission for the experiment to take place, the University was too overwhelmed with patients to set up the equipment. So, Theodore got up before sunrise to make sure it got done. He sent Oboe to fetch an ailing fairy from the Whirlwood sanctuary while he caught the first trolley bound toward the university. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect.</p>
<p>There was a lot of heavy lifting, moving machinery around, but half his time was spent pouring over technical manuals to puzzle out how everything connected. It was the most fun he'd had in weeks.</p>
<p>He dragged the canister up to the console and attached the fuel line. Double checking the diagram, he took the rune rod and tapped the canister twice. It lit up, and the entire rig sprang to life with a soft hum. The diagnostic crystals shivered, hanging over the examination bed like a chandelier. With this, they would be able to track the magic aura of the test subject in real time.</p>
<p>"Impressive," Stillwell said, entering from the hall while Theodore was running tests. "I had my doubts when you said you'd have it ready. And you've no formal training? I wish half our students had your aptitude."</p>
<p>Theodore's smile was feeble. "My assistant should be here soon with the dream sower. Did you find a volunteer?"</p>
<p>"Yes, he did, damn it."</p>
<p>Duke Ambergrail was wheeled into the room by a student. Theodore gaped. This was the last person he expected.</p>
<p>"You think you can fix me, do you?" He said. "This had better work, or I'll make sure the Governor has you sacked."</p>
<p>"Y-your lordship." Theodore cleared his throat. "It's a... pleasure to see you again. Were you... informed about the nature of this experiment?"</p>
<p>"The duke is aware that he will be exposed to fairy magic," Stillwell said. "I'll be frank. He is desperate for an alternative form of treatment. Our ambient magic diffusers are losing their effectiveness on him. My prognosis, given the rate of his decline, is that he has less than a month to live."</p>
<p>Felix Ambergrail stabbed the floor with a walking cane. "I'm your test rat, Deputy, but don't think for a moment that means I'm a fool. The only reason I'm indulging this test of yours is the off chance it might keep me alive. We'll do this, but I'm still a duke, and we're doing this on my terms."</p>
<p>His lordship was no less charming than the first time Theodore met with him. "Meaning what? "</p>
<p>"I sent my bodyguard to keep an eye on your conspirators," the duke said. "If Mort suspects anything, he'll chop them apart. I need this to work, but I'd sooner die than fall prey to a trick of the fey."</p>
<p>As frustrating as it was to be stuck working with this man, Theodore realized this was an opportunity. If he could prove to the duke that the fairies were the key to ending the epidemic, it would be that much easier to have the ban undone.</p>
<p>"Do whatever makes you feel is necessary," Theodore said. "I promise that you will not be in any danger. All that will happen is that you will be given a fairy dream and, If the experiment is a success, you should begin to recover once you wake up. Maybe then you'll see that fairies are not a threat to us."</p>
<p>"We shall see," Felix said. "Have a seat. Your pets should be here shortly."</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Episode 3 Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oboe steadied Zither on her shoulder, eyeing the knight who ordered them to come with him. He was tall and scary, with chainmail that rattled and a harsh grumbly voice. This human made Oboe think about all the mean things Theo said about knights. Where was Theo? He was supposed to meet them at the trolley station. Meeting this guy instead made her feel like something had gone wrong.</p>
<p>"Hurry up," the human said as he herded them up the stairs somewhere inside the university.</p>
<p>"Keep your lid on, you tin can," Thistle said as he helped with Zither. "Going as fast as we can."</p>
<p> The students stared as they passed. Oboe wondered if there'd been some mistake. It felt like they were trespassing even though they were told to come. It was a relief to see Theo waiting for them at the top of the stairs.</p>
<p>"There you are," he said. He looked ruffled, which did not put Oboe at ease. "Sorry that I didn't meet you outside. Things aren't going as planned. I need to brief you before we go in there."</p>
<p>"What's going on?" Zither said.</p>
<p>"We have a shot at getting the ban undone," Theo said. "The volunteer we have for you to enchant is Duke Ambergrail. I need you both on your best behavior. He's the one who ordered the ban."</p>
<p>"He is??" Oboe said. "What should we do?"</p>
<p>Theo held up his hands to calm her. "Same as before. We cure him and prove you aren't a threat. We have to be careful, though. He hates fairies."</p>
<p>"Obviously," Thistle said with a grimace.</p>
<p>They followed Theo into the next room. It was white and smelled like stinging soap. A mobile of crystals hung from the ceiling, rotating on clicking wheels and gears. A robed doctor helped a shriveled young human out of a chair and into a big bed.</p>
<p> "That's him?" Zither said, leaning on Oboe. "The human that took our territories away?"</p>
<p>"I guess so," Oboe said, nervous. The man was glaring at them while Theo went to talk to him. "We can fix this. Make it right again."</p>
<p>Zither's gaze grew firm. "You're right," he said. He let go of her and balanced on his own hooves.</p>
<p>"He's ready," Theo said, coming back. "You can start your preparations."</p>
<p>Thistle set down his wicker backpack and rooted through it for his tools. He took out a long clay dish etched with runes and got to work. He uncorked a decanter of river water and poured. A mix of herbs were sprinkled on top and then it was time to add the spell. Oboe watched her friend concentrate on the water. Thistle's brow knit, his antennae twitched, and the water turned golden.</p>
<p>"Your turn, kid," he said.</p>
<p>Zither took the dish in his palm and limped toward the bedside. The knight kept a hand on his sword nearby. Ignoring this, Zither closed his eyes and curled his fingers over the water to mold the magic. He lifted his free hand and a dark red bubble surfaced to float between his fingers. </p>
<p>Something was wrong. Thistle's dreams were never like this. Even the nightmares Thistle made were like a warm blanket, something you could slip in and out of. The magic in Zither's hands was angry. Sticky, like hot tar. She needed to say something, but the words caught in her throat.</p>
<p>"Stop!" Oboe said. "That spell isn't right!"</p>
<p>"What the hell?" The duke said.</p>
<p>Zither bolted. The knight drew his sword, but before he could swing Zither hurled the clay bowl in his face. Zither lunged at the duke and pressed the dream into his head before Theo or anyone else could act. The knight pulled him off, tossed him to floor and aimed his blade to kill.</p>
<p>"Wait!" Theo said, stepping in the way. "Hold your strike!"</p>
<p>The doctor raced to the duke's side, but it was too late. The duke thrashed for a moment and then slumped into his pillow, unconscious. The crystals dangling over the hospital bed twitched and flickered. Zither's spell made them dance and rattle. </p>
<p>"Devil damn the lot of you!" The doctor said. "I knew this would happen, and I trusted you anyway! Look what happened! He won't wake up!"</p>
<p>"What happened?!" Theo said, and turned to Zither. "What did you do?!"</p>
<p>Zither was still too weak to stand. He laughed instead. "Making things right. He thought he could treat us like garbage? Well, I made him pay for that!"</p>
<p>Oboe grabbed Zither and slammed him against the wall. The smug look on his face made her angrier than she ever remembered being. "Are you stupid!? This was our chance to help you! Help all those fairies too!"</p>
<p>Zither's fur bristled as color returned to his body. "We were never going to change the mind of that man." He gripped Oboe by the arm, strong enough to fight back now. "Better that I make him suffer for thinking he can push us around!"</p>
<p>She hurled him across the room, where he crashed face first through a table of medical tools that all clattered to the floor. The noise got the attention of more humans, who burst into the room. The whole pack of humans got hold of Zither before he could get back on his feet. He bucked, and fought, until they managed to lock his hands in iron shackles.</p>
<p>"Summon the watch," the doctor said. "I want these creatures dealt with."</p>
<p>"No!" Thistle said, trembling. "No, no, no no, no, no! If this gets out, the humans are going to take it out on us fairies! You can't let anyone know!" </p>
<p>The doctor shook his head. "You don't get a say in this, sylph!  Now sit down until they get here and decide what to do with you!"</p>
<p>"This is my jurisdiction," Theo said. "Let me handle this."</p>
<p>"You're the reason this happened!" The doctor said. "I'm done listening to you!"</p>
<p>The humans drew closer to Oboe, brandishing another set of shackles. The knight pointed his sword.</p>
<p>"She's innocent," Theo said. "You don't have to restrain her."</p>
<p>The knight glared. "As innocent as the other one, I'd wager. Not taking any chances."</p>
<p>Oboe backed away. She wondered if she ought to run, or maybe fight. She looked at Theo, who looked terrified as the other humans shoved him into a chair. There was no way she could fix this, but she didn't want to make it any worse either. She held out her arms.</p>
<p>"I won't fight you," she told them as they cuffed her wrists. "I'm your friend."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Episode 3 Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The crystals swayed and tinkled in the machine above. Dr. Stillwell adjusted dials to focus the instruments and better read the spell cast over the sleeping duke.</p>
<p>"How is he?" Theodore said, feeling helpless.</p>
<p>"His condition is bad," Stillwell said. He moved to take the duke's pulse. "He's alive, but the enchantment is severe. Nothing I've tried seems to wake him. I don't understand."</p>
<p>Thistle folded his arms. "I can tell you exactly what that idiot did!" His slender sylphan wrists were too small to be shackled, so Mort chose instead to tie an iron chain around his waist to block him from casting spells. "He bound that human to a night terror."</p>
<p>"What does that mean?" Theodore said.</p>
<p>"All this fancy equipment and you clowns can't figure it out?" Thistle rolled his eyes. "He's stuck in a nightmare he can't wake up from."</p>
<p>Stillwell studied the array of gauges on the console of the augur machine. At the center of it, a glass ball interpreted the magic aura surrounding the duke with a swirl of red and black color. "That... makes sense, given these readings. If that's the case, maybe we can dissolve the spell." He stared into the crystal ball. "...But with an enchantment this heavy, that could take months."</p>
<p>"Months?!" Oboe stood up, only to be pushed back to the floor by Mort and the campus security. "It shouldn't take that long! You have a dream sower right here! Thistle can dig the spell out. Let him help!"</p>
<p>"You fairies have done enough damage already!" The doctor said. "We will fix this mess you've made on our own!"</p>
<p>Theodore wrung his hands. There was more at stake here than how quickly the duke recovered. If news of this attack got out, Laien's fear of fairies would be reinforced. Other districts might adopt the ban and both fairies and humans would suffer because of it. "If there's a chance Thistle can save Felix Ambergrail right now, we owe it to the duke to try."</p>
<p>Mort looked up. "Hey doc? Not that I get a say here, but I'd rather my boss be awake enough to sign my paychecks. Just saying."</p>
<p>Stillwell scowled at his captives, his face tight with the burden of making a choice. He peered back at the blackening crystal ball, and sighed. "And what, praytell, does the sylph propose we do?"</p>
<p>"Oh? Now you WANT my help?" Thistle laughed. "Good. About time one of you grew a brain. Real quick, as a favor, can I ask you not throw me back in jail if I clean this up?"</p>
<p>"Don't help them, you old roach!" Zither shouted. "This is what they deserve!"</p>
<p>Mort kicked Zither onto his back and prodded his underbelly with the tip of his sword. "Shut your mouth or I'll gut you right here!"</p>
<p>"Then do it!" Zither said. "I'd rather die than spend another second under your bootheel! Kill me!"</p>
<p>Thistle stood up. "You know what? Do you what you want with me. I'm helping out of spite now." He dragged his chain as far as it would reach. "Here's the deal. All fairy magic longs to find a purpose. Even if it's misused, like it was by that idiot behind me, it will resolve if the dream expresses whatever it thinks the dreamer needs. I can't pull him out of the dream. That's not how it works. But if this man confronts whatever the nightmare is tormenting him with, that's when he'll wake up."</p>
<p>"How does that help us?" Stillwell said. "We can't affect what Ambergrail does inside the dream!"</p>
<p>"Yeah, well. What I can do is I can insert someone else inside the dream to help him. How's that?"</p>
<p>A look of horror seized the doctor's face. "You're suggesting we connect another person to the spell? Are you out of your mind?!"</p>
<p>"Well, I can't go inside," Thistle said. "The dream only works on humans."</p>
<p>"Let me do it," Theodore said, standing up. "This is my responsibility. I should be the one to make it better."</p>
<p>"Out of the question! I'm not risking another life to this dangerous magic!" The doctor said.</p>
<p>"Do you want to try and dissolve the spell?!" Theodore said. "You told me the duke has less than a month to live. He doesn't have enough time! But if I do this, there's a chance I can fix this. This is my life, and I trust these fairies with it!"</p>
<p>Dr. Stillwell stared through Theodore, his eyes narrowing. Theodore met the gaze, breath held.</p>
<p>"I wash my hands of this foolishness," Stillwell said, walking away. "Do what you want."</p>
<p>Mort unwrapped Thistle from his chains, anxious about his job security. Oboe looked frightened.</p>
<p>"Theo, you already had three fairy dreams yesterday," she said. "This might be too much magic for your body. Are you sure this is a good idea?"</p>
<p>It was four dreams, if he counted the one from the other morning. Theodore had no idea what he was doing. His brain was mush of anxiety, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. "Yes," he said.</p>
<p>Thistle finished stretching. "Before I stick you in there, there's something we need to do first. The dream is gonna screw with your memory. For you to pull this off, we need an anchor to the real world. Something small I can enchant. Something that makes you feel intense emotion. That's your connection to reality, and how we make sure you remember what you need to do."</p>
<p>Theodore searched his pockets. He didn't bring much of anything with him. "I don't think I have anything like that."</p>
<p>"Wait!" Oboe said. She opened her pouch and produced the little toy soldier. "Would this work?"</p>
<p>Theodore frowned. "You kept that?" He had forgotten about his outburst at the toyshop. He felt ashamed for having blown up at her, and a thorny mix of other emotions about where his life had gone. "Why?"</p>
<p>Thistle looked at Theodore's face, and snatched the toy from Oboe. "Yeah, that'll do." He gave it a flick, and it started to glow, and then he waved it around in Theodore face. "Remember this, okay? You'll be trapped in a nightmare forever if you don't."</p>
<p>"Alright, alright!" Theodore save, pushing it away. "I'm ready."</p>
<p>They moved Theodore's chair to the bedside. Thistle climbed on top of a nearby counter, and placed four grubby bug hands on Theodore's face.</p>
<p>"Hey, no pressure, but if you screw this up, these humans are probably going to kill us."</p>
<p>Before Theodore could say anything, the world around him erupted into blinding white.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Episode 3 Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore tried to stay on his feet.  The wind howled around him, whipping his face with hot sand. He couldn't see anything through the roar of the sandstorm. It was all he could do to cover his face and move forward.</p>
<p>His head felt like a doll with its stuffing ripped out. He knew he needed to go somewhere, to do something. Something terrible would happen if he didn't. It hurt to think and to hold onto the thought. He doubled his effort to push through the storm. </p>
<p>The dust cleared. Theodore looked down and jumped back. He was one step away from walking off the edge of a rooftop. The tiles under his feet gave ever so slightly. He realized, as his vision cleared, that the building he stood on was made of sand. It was the same in the streets below and beyond. A whole city stretched ahead of him, the shape of its skyline and building familiar but made again with fine grit and dust. It was Laien, home, and yet not. At the center was a structure he did not recognize: an impossible tower made of steel that pierced the sky.</p>
<p>Vertigo hit Theodore. It was a long fall to the ground and the roof he walked on was crumbling with each step. He needed to get to somewhere safe. Stepping lightly, he searched for a regulation fire escape to climb down to ground level. Preferably one that wasn't also made of sand. The wind kicked up again before he could locate one. Theodore turned to look where the storm was coming from. That's when he saw it.</p>
<p>A face hung in the red sky like a constellation. He knew it. Curling horns and a notched goat ear. The name was on the tip of his tongue. Zither. That was right. A faun that he had wanted to help. What was he doing? His mouth was open, lips pursed as he sucked up air and dust until his cheeks were full. Then, holding it all for just a moment, he blew it out again. A great squall tore through the buildings, scattering them to nothing.</p>
<p>Theodore's heart jumped in panic. He needed to get down before it reached him. Bounding forward, he looked for anywhere he could jump down to safety. The roof was too weak. His leg punched through, trapping him. Twisting around, he saw the gust ripping towards him. He tried to pull himself free, but it was no use. There was no choice. He slammed his fist into the tile under him and the rooftop crumbled. He fell, slamming into one interior floor after another, each one slowing his fall with a rough grainy slap, until he hit the ground. The storm rushed over his head, burying him in dust.</p>
<p>Theodore had the foresight to hold his breath. He lurched, trying to free himself from the heavy piles of sand he was trapped under. As soon as he wormed his way to the surface, he gasped for air. The storm had subsided.</p>
<p>He got up and took in the path of destruction Zither had created. A line straight through the city to the tower was toppled, but the tower stood the blast. The giant faced glared in the distance. It hovered across the sky at glacial pace and looked for another angle of attack.</p>
<p>Theodore brushed himself off and wracked his brain trying to remember what was going on. This was all wrong. Zither shouldn't be doing this. Why was the city like this?</p>
<p>He remembered something despite the headache. He needed Oboe's toy soldier. It was important, like a bright beacon in his mind, but why? Somehow knowing he needed it was enough. He knew where to find it. The toyshop.</p>
<p>There was no point in going to the trolley station. If it was made of sand it wouldn't be operational. So, Theodore steered himself to try and find the streets he had explored with Oboe. His boots slipped on the even ground as he marched across the loose sand. He stopped to take refuge when he heard Zither readying another windstorm and kept clear of the attack.</p>
<p>When he reached the toyshop he grabbed the doorknob, only for it to fall apart in his hand. Feeling stupid, Theodore kicked an opening through the door and stooped to climb inside.</p>
<p>He remembered Oboe's excitement over the toy store. All of the model trains and toy puzzles were mirrored here, sculpted in fragile grains. Only one object in the whole shop was made of something else. Theodore picked the little wooden knight off the shelf and everything come back to him in a rush. Zither had betrayed them. This was the duke's dream. He was trapped inside with him, needing to save him before the news got out of what had happened. Theodore needed to find the duke and make him confront the dream.</p>
<p>Another wind blast shook the city. Theodore ran out of the toy store before it collapsed on top of him. After the sand settled, Theodore looked and saw the iron tower was still standing in the distance. The duke could be anywhere, but that seemed the obvious place to start looking.</p>
<p>Theodore got moving, but almost tripped. There was something clamped tight around his wrist. A shackle, with a taut chain trailing off it. Turning around, Theodore saw there was something on the other end holding his chain.</p>
<p>"Where do you think you're going, son?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Episode 3 Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo's face stirred, wincing in his sleep. Oboe watched and worried, sitting on the floor, while the doctor checked his pocket watch again. It was only a matter of time until the watchmen came, and then Oboe didn't know what would happen.</p>
<p>"Kid," Thistle said, whispering. "If this goes sour, I want you to run. I'll keep 'em busy. You're young. You can run to the Korveil border before they can catch you. It'll be safe there."</p>
<p>The idea made her angry. "I'm not leaving you guys," she said.</p>
<p>Mort leaned over them, leering. "What are you fey scheming?"</p>
<p>"Well, I WANTED to plot a daring escape," Thistle said. "But if no one wants to cooperate, I guess I'll wait to die instead!"</p>
<p>The crystals dangling from the human science doohickey chimed. Their colors shifted, and the magic around them tensed like a stretched sheet. The doctor rushed to a control panel. His face grew pale.</p>
<p>"Something's happening," he said. "The aura-form is spiking."</p>
<p>"Good," Thistle said. "Looks like the deputy found his pressure point. If he's worth anything, he'll prove to the dream that it should help him."</p>
<p>"And if he doesn't?" The doctor said.</p>
<p>"You sent that human to die," Zither said.</p>
<p>"Shut up!" Oboe said, wishing she'd left the buck to wither. "Theo can do it! He's smart, and he wanted to help you!"</p>
<p>The doctor planted his hands on the control panel. "This was a mistake. I'm going to cut him out and put a stop to this."</p>
<p>"He'll be stuck in there if you do that!" Thistle stood up, and Mort blocked him with his sword. "If you tear the dream, it won't work right!"</p>
<p>"I don't care how it works!" The doctor whipped around. "This man's aura is in the red zone! He's at risk of going into a coma! This magic is dangerous!"</p>
<p>"It's only dangerous because it was used wrong," Oboe said, shooting a glare at Zither. "Magic doesn't want to hurt anyone. It wants to change things, and make them grow. It wants to be good, even when we're wicked. You need to trust it."</p>
<p>There was a knock at the door, and a robed woman entered. "The Watch is here, Dr. Stillwell."</p>
<p>"Send them up," he said. "I'll give report to them myself."</p>
<p>The door closed. Oboe felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. The knights were coming to take her away. If the humans ripped open the dream, it would be weeks or months before Theo could wake up. Depending on what they did with her, she might not see him again.</p>
<p>"I don't see anything good about what has happened here today," the doctor said to her. "Give me one reason why I should trust anything about this magic."</p>
<p>Oboe felt her heart flutter. She remembered what Gardner Feather had told her before. The words weren't hers, but they felt right.</p>
<p>"<em>All magic, and every creature touched by it, is born with the purpose to do good," </em>she said. "That includes me, and you, and that spell too. We all mess up, but Thistle says the spell can be a good thing if we let it. Isn't that what the Mother of Magic thinks too?"</p>
<p>The doctor reached under his robes and pulled out a round talisman. It was the same symbol Oboe saw at the fairy sanctuary, a circle with other shapes inside that all fit together.  He held it in his palms as if trying to read it. His shoulders drooped.</p>
<p>The door swung open. A troop of knights crowded in, dressed in white and green tabards. "We received your alert. What is the situation?"</p>
<p>Stillwell replaced his amulet under his clothes. "Yes. There's been a fairy attack, and I need it dealt with." He pointed at Zither. "This one cast a curse on Duke Ambergrail. The man's bodyguard can corroborate if you need proof. I want this creature taken into custody at once."</p>
<p>The watchmen eyed Oboe and Thistle. "What about these others?"</p>
<p>"Leave them," he said. "We're attending to the duke's condition as we speak. They are assisting me. If they cause trouble, I will send for you again."</p>
<p>Pulled onto his hooves, Zither's stony face wavered now that he had to meet his fate. He clenched his jaw, and gave Oboe a determined look before they took him away. Oboe didn't care. She turned her attention back to Theo, and waited.</p>
<p>The doctor sat down across from them. He seemed more at ease, but not so much to undo their chains. "Tell me more about how this magic works," he said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Episode 3 Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance Grayweather pulled Theodore's chain and knocked him off his feet. He loomed over Theodore, ten feet tall and dressed in shining armor.</p>
<p>"You've wasted enough time, Theo," Lance said. "You need to start taking your training seriously."</p>
<p>Theodore spat the sand from his mouth and staggered to his feet. "This isn't real," he told himself, his heart pounding. "You're dead. This is just a dream."</p>
<p>The phantom of his father tugged on the chain leash. "What're you babbling about? A knight who stays sharp is in no danger of dying. You'll understand that if you open your ears. Now come!"</p>
<p>Theodore tried to stand his ground, only to be dragged across the soft sand. The tower was right there but his father was pulling away him away from it.</p>
<p>"Let go of me!" Theodore said. "I have a job to do!"</p>
<p>"As do I," Lance said. His hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword at his belt. It slid from its sheathe with a gentle scrape. "I have to make you a proper Grayweather."</p>
<p>"You can't do anything!" Theodore said. "You're dead! Just a ghost I dreamed up!" He tried to pull the shackle off. He knew none of this was real. Why was it so hard?</p>
<p>Theodore rolled out of the way as Lance brought his sword down. His father swung again, forcing Theodore to lean outside the arc of the blade. What would happen if he was killed here? If Theodore could not wake up, if he had no control over this place, he could not afford to take a single hit.</p>
<p>Yes!" Lance said, ecstatic. "Just like I taught you!" He chopped and sliced, cutting only air. "You'll be a knight like me in no time!"</p>
<p>"I don't want to be like you!" Theodore said, winded. "I never did! But you would never leave me alone! Even after you died, after you ran off got yourself killed like I knew you would, everyone is still trying to make me like you! I don't want any of it!"</p>
<p>His feet slipped on the sand. He couldn't keep this up forever. Theodore needed to do something, but what? Thistle said they needed to confront the nightmare, but what did that mean? He didn't have a weapon and they were already fighting. He looped his hand around the chain.</p>
<p>Lance readied his blade, staring down at him. "You're a knight, whether you like it or not."</p>
<p>"I know!!" Theodore yanked the chain into the air, using it to block the sword. He hoped it would break the chain, but it didn't. Of course it didn't. "I haven't got a choice!"</p>
<p>An insufferable smile spread wide on his father's face. "Then you understand. This is what you are. A soldier."</p>
<p>Old bitterness filled Theodore, like a cup overflowing. He hated this man, with every fiber of his being. Looking down, he noticed that while dodging he'd dropped the toy knight Oboe had given him. It reminded him about what she told him, about what the creatures of the Whirlwood needed. About what knights were to her.</p>
<p>"I am a knight," he said. The chain went slack in his hand. "But maybe, I'm a different kind."</p>
<p>Lance lowered his sword. He was smaller now, no larger than Theodore. His grin was gone, replaced with a face somber and soft.</p>
<p>"You hate me," he said.</p>
<p>Theodore felt his anger itch, but he put it aside. Tears budded instead. "I didn't know what to feel, after you were gone. Everyone wants me to pretend to be you. I wanted to run away, but I guess I can't. I have a job to do. If I'm going to do this, I need your help."</p>
<p>Lance vanished. The chain fell to the ground with a thump. Theodore stared at the empty space. His father was gone, but he was still shackled and the cuff would not come off. Typical. Stepping closer, he found his father's sword lying in the sand with the other end of the chain linked to it. Theodore took the weapon. There was no sense dragging it.</p>
<p>The city was in bad shape. The windstorms had gutted the dream world, leaving scattered ruins. There was still one place untouched. Theodore made all haste to reach the tower. The base of the tower was buried in sand thanks to Zither. Theodore stabbed the sword in the ground and rolled up his sleeves. He dug through the hot sand with his finger, hoping to unearth the entrance. Before he could make any headway, Zither blew another gust through the city and buried it all again.</p>
<p>Theodore let out a growl of frustration. There was no time for this. He plucked his feet out of the fresh dune, grabbed the sword, and struck the tower out of anger. The steel wall tore like vellum.</p>
<p>He stood there, stunned. A prod with his hand revealed that the tower was rock hard to the touch. He stabbed at the tower with the sword and the wall ripped. It cut through like there was nothing in the way.</p>
<p>Theodore made another incision and, with a little work, carved out an opening large enough to step through. The iron collapsed inward and Theodore dropped down inside.</p>
<p>It was empty inside. The tower was hollow. The only thing contained was a rickety looking iron-wrought spiral staircase that reached all the way up to the top. Theodore wasn't sure what he expected. A lavish mansion? He clambered onto the steps and resigned himself to a long climb.</p>
<p>A shock of wind rocked the tower as he scaled the stairs. The tower groaned and creaked, visibly leaning under the stress. Theodore clung to the thin railing, wondering if it would hold. There was no going back. He pressed on, pushing himself to double his pace, wondering how he could feel this exhausted while fast asleep, until he reached a door at the top.</p>
<p>It was locked. Theodore glanced back at the long drop behind him, and decided to try knocking.</p>
<p>"No! Get away!" A voice answered. It was the duke. "I won't let you take me! I won't!!"</p>
<p>"I'm not here to hurt you! This is the Ranger Deputy!" Theodore said. "Let me in! I want to help!"</p>
<p>"This is a trick!" Felix said, hysterical. "It's always a trick! I won't open the door! I won't! Get out of here! Begone!!"</p>
<p>Exasperated, Theodore pushed the sword through the door and sliced its hinges off. It fell open, and Theodore stepped through into a small bedroom. He expected to see the duke. Instead, he found a child.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Episode 3 Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tower shook under their feet. The window hurled itself open and wind howled through, sending books flying off the shelves and cups crashing to the floor. Screaming, the child dropped to the floor and covered his head.</p>
<p>Theodore held his ground. Taking one careful step after another, he pushed against the squall until he reached the window and battened it shut. The shutters rattled on their hinges and the tower swayed around them until Zither ran out of breath.</p>
<p>"It's okay," Theodore said, in part to himself. "We're safe."</p>
<p>The boy peeked out from under the bed, snot dribbling down his terrified face. Although he was younger, his face chubbier and his hair unkempt, there was no question that this was the duke. He appeared to be maybe eight years old, dressed in a fine vest with buttons mismatched. "Get away!" He said.</p>
<p>Theodore knelt down, as if he were coaxing a stray cat. "Felix Ambergrail?"</p>
<p>"What do you want?" He said. "Leave me alone!"</p>
<p>"Your lordship, I want to help you," Theodore said. "This is a dream, and we're trapped here. I can get you out of here, but we need to work together." A rubber ball smacked Theodore in the eye and bounced away.</p>
<p>"You're one of them! You're trying to take me away, just like father!" The duke said. "I won't let you!"</p>
<p>Theodore sighed and readjusted his glasses. Not only did the duke look like a child, he was acting like one. He wondered how anyone dealt with children. "You're scared," he said, trying to find the right words. "You're alone up here. It's dangerous, and there's no way out. You don't seem to remember me, but I know you. I can help, but you need to trust me."</p>
<p>"You're lying! You don't know anything about me!" He said.</p>
<p>Another windstorm hit. The whole room teetered, the iron tower groaning and threatening to topple. Felix retreated farther under the bed, and whimpered.</p>
<p>Sitting on the floor, Theodore waiting for the noise to subside. It was clear this hiding spot wouldn't last forever. What would happen once it fell? He wanted to grab the duke, carry him down the stairs and get out of there before it did. But would that work? Theodore touched the toy soldier in his breast pocket. Thistle and Oboe told him they needed to confront what the dream was using to scare them. He couldn't force the duke to do that. He had to convince him. But how?</p>
<p>Theodore's thought about his own fairy dreams, about how it used his father. The wind died down and there was quiet.</p>
<p>"I get it," Theodore said. "You told me before, about what it was like when your dad disappeared." His throat tightened. Why was this still so hard? "Things changed after that happened. ...Everyone has expectations for you, and he's not around anymore to help you. Even if you wanted to be like him, you aren't. That's hard."</p>
<p>Felix stared, saying nothing.</p>
<p>"I can't bring your father back," Theodore said. "But that doesn't mean you should stay here. I don't know how or why your father disappeared, but this is different. That thing outside isn't as scary as you think it is. He made a stupid decision because he was angry and scared. It's a mess. That doesn't mean it has to stay that way."</p>
<p>Creeping out from under the bed, Felix got up. The tower rumbled again, and he winced.</p>
<p>"I want to go home," he said.</p>
<p>Theodore took Felix by the hand. Together, they descended the long well of stairs carefully. The boy cried out whenever the tower shook and the stairs leaned, but Theodore urged him all the way to the bottom. There, they stepped out to see the city leveled. </p>
<p>"We need to walk toward that face," Theodore said, pointing. "Keep hold of my hand, alright? I promise we'll be safe."</p>
<p>They crossed the dunes, hunkering down as the face in the sky blew to stop them. They pushed on, and the further they went the more Zither's head began to twist and warp. Cracks formed, splitting him into crude shapes that squeezed together. Then, with a noise louder than anything Theodore had ever heard before, the shapes broke apart and fell like shooting stars. They pulled the world of the dream down like a stage curtain. Their vision blurred and they fell, reality hurtling back to seize them with one waking slap.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Episode 3 Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo opened his eyes. Oboe leapt to his side, almost knocking the doctor down as she did, and grabbed his hand. “You did it!” She said. “I knew you could do it! You’re amazing!”</p>
<p>He opened his mouth to speak, but let out a rasping cough instead. Something was wrong. His aura was like thick, dark smoke, and his skin was hot to the touch. He was sick.</p>
<p>“No!” Oboe’s relief was stripped away. “You had too many dreams!”</p>
<p>Wincing, Theo tried to focus on her. “Did it work?” He gripped her hand tighter. “The duke. Is he okay?”</p>
<p>Oboe looked. The duke groaned, and sat up in bed. Dr. Stillwell moved to check on him, prodding him with all sorts of gizmos.</p>
<p>“He’s… stable,” the doctor said. “You actually managed to pull it off. I don’t believe it.”</p>
<p>“You should!” Oboe said, annoyed. “It worked just like Thistle said it would!”</p>
<p>"Where am I?" The duke said. "What happened?!"</p>
<p>"The experiment was a failure," the doctor said. "The fairy cursed you instead of what we agreed on."</p>
<p>"I knew it!" The duke threw his arms into the air. "Which one of these monsters did it? I'll have their head! Mort! Why are you standing there?! Kill them!"</p>
<p>"Lie down!" Stillwell said. "The culprit has been dealt with. You need to rest while I run more tests."</p>
<p>"I'm not going sit back with assassins in our midst!" He said. "Guards! Mort! Seize them!!”</p>
<p>Oboe stiffened. Part of her hoped the dream would change the duke’s mind, but a dream could only change someone a little bit at a time and only if that someone listened. Thistle poked her side and flicked his antennae towards the door. He wanted to run. Oboe wasn’t going anywhere without Theo.</p>
<p>“You won’t touch them!” Theo got out of his chair to stand. His legs shook. He was still too weak. Before he could fall, Oboe stuck herself under his arm to help hold him up. “These two did everything they could to save you!" He said. "We broke your curse together. I won’t let you harm them!”</p>
<p>“They’ve muddled his brain,” the duke said to the doctor. “Their magic is killing him. Made him a puppet. If we don’t do something, they’ll do the same to us.”</p>
<p>“Shut up!” Theo said with a shout so loud it startled Oboe. “I don’t care what you think! I don’t care what happened that made you like this! It doesn’t matter! You have no right to treat fairies this way, least of all Oboe! She’s a good person and she’s my friend!”</p>
<p>Oboe gaped at him. She knew they were friends, but there was always doubt in her mind. A little voice telling her that it wasn’t real, that he was just pretending, that it would turn out the way it always did. Hearing him declare they were friends made her battered heart burst with a happiness she didn’t know was still inside.</p>
<p>The duke sneered. “That is not how you speak to a lord of Laien. Mort! What am I paying you for?! Get rid of them! Jail them! Kill them! Stop staring at me, and do something!”</p>
<p>The big knight gave Oboe a pitying look, but did not move. His sword stayed in its sheathe. Maybe he wasn’t so scary after all.</p>
<p>"We were just leaving," Theo said. He turned his head towards Oboe with a tired smile.  “Come on. Let’s go.”</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Episode 3 Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theodore rolled over in bed, feeling ready to die. His whole body was weak and sore. He wasn't able to keep food down and he was both too hot and too cold. It was a miracle he survived the walk back from the city.</p>
<p>He threw off the covers and tried to summon the strength to climb out of bed. All he managed to accomplish, after a feeble amount of squirming, was knocking his pillow onto the floor. Theodore wailed in frustration. He was trapped and now less comfortable.</p>
<p>"Are you okay??" Oboe said, coming up the cottage stairs with a big bowl of soup. "You sound awful!"</p>
<p>Theodore used a trembling arm to brace himself against the bedpost and sit up. "I'm fine. Just yawning. I need to get back to work."</p>
<p>"No, you don't! You need to rest!" She said. "Thistle told us you have to stay in bed so your body can get rid of the extra magic!"</p>
<p>"I'm not going to just sit around," he said, grumbling. "I have a responsibility to serve the Whirlwood."</p>
<p>"You can't help anybody while you're sick! That's why you gotta focus on getting better, okay?" She set the soup down on the nightstand. "You'll feel better if you eat this."</p>
<p>The dish was filled with a thick, stringy green fluid that made Theodore nervous. "What is it?"</p>
<p>"Medicine. Woodruff with moon herb and sickle shrooms! Thistle said it'll help. It'll make you poop a lot!"</p>
<p>Unconvinced, Theodore swirled the spoon in the bowl until he worked up the bravery to put the concoction in his mouth. It had an overwhelming mint taste that went down bitter. He tried to tell himself that meant it was just potent.</p>
<p>"Has it been busy?" He said, forcing himself to eat more.</p>
<p>"Not very," she said, putting his pillow back. "Most creatures just need help with renewals. I'm taking notes for anyone who's got a problem I can't figure out."</p>
<p>"Good." Theodore relaxed, feeling better knowing nothing catastrophic had happened yet. He felt grateful for her help now more than ever. "Thank you for covering for me like this. It means a lot."</p>
<p>A big smiled crept across her face. "You're welcome!" She was straining not to grab him and pull him into a hug. "Anything to help a friend!"</p>
<p>Theodore put the bowl down again, thinking. "Oboe, I'm sorry. I've been cold to you, and you didn't deserve that."</p>
<p>"It's okay," Oboe said. "I deserved it."</p>
<p>"No, you didn't," he said, feeling the need to be firm. "Don't say that. You gave me a gift, and I let myself get upset without thinking." He looked down, dwelling on his mistake. "It felt good to talk to you about why I was upset. It's not something I ever thought I'd talk about. ...It meant something to me. More than I thought it would. Thank you."</p>
<p>Oboe was holding her breath. "Does that mean you want the little knight now?"</p>
<p>"...Yes, I think tha--" Before he could finish, Oboe charged down the stairs to fetch it. She hurtled back up again, out of breath.</p>
<p>"I forgot!!" She said, bringing Theodore an envelope. "This came for you earlier!"</p>
<p>The letter had the university's seal on it. Opening it, he read.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Salutations Sir Grayweather,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I hope your recovery has been steady since the incident. My condolences that things did not proceed as you had hoped. Felix Ambergrail is now more set than ever that the ban against the fairies must be kept. I cannot imagine that anything will change his mind. Attempts to sway him from this attitude have been futile. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There's a matter I need to discuss with you, however. I did not forget the point of our agreement. Following the incident, I have kept records of the duke's vitals. His recovery has been remarkable. I cannot argue with results like these. Even if the dream was cursed, the lasting effect on his health has been more than positive. This shows there was some truth in your hypothesis.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Please speak to me at your earliest convenience. This requires further study, but more pressingly, there are people who are still suffering. You told me that there are fairies likewise afflicted. I believe we can make a mutually beneficial arrangement provided you can enforce a more stringent screening process.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Respectfully,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Learned Practitioner of the Healing Arts</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Alexander Stillwell</em>
</p>
<p>
  
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<p>"What does it say?" Oboe said, peeking over his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Things might not be as bad as we thought," Theodore said.</p>
<p>Oboe offered him the little toy knight again. This time, Theodore took it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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